Waltz with Bashir | Ari Folman, 2008
As with James Marsh’s Man on Wire, Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir is an interesting and unique take on the documentary genre that positively shook critics’ circles upon release, scooping a truckload of awards and an Oscar nomination to boot. Man on Wire plays with the genre to create something that could only be described as a heist-documentary film, whereas Waltz with Bashir refines it through the use of animation. Much of this is of course down to the approach our Israeli-born director takes; choosing to present his experiences in the form of a journey of awakening, then to animate the whole thing afterwards. The animation here is a key factor, and allows for the natural and easy manipulation of things like dream sequences of which there are many in the film. Indeed, Waltz with Bashir is an exquisite blend of imagery that passes through shades of the real, surreal and unreal, always blurring the lines between the three. The perfect example of this is presented to us instantly even before the introductory credits have finished rolling. We look on as a pack of twenty-six vicious, rabid dogs pound down city streets and back alleys in search of their prey. They knock furniture, shrubbery and people out of their way to the beat of Max Richter’s thumping score and are an eye-opening introduction to the impressive use of the dream sequence that can be found throughout Waltz with Bashir.
Considering the severity of the topic at hand – that being the 1982 Lebanon War and all of the lasting horrors it produced – Waltz with Bashir does well to never once stray into heavy-handed territory. In fact one might even accuse the film of having way too much fun with such weighty subject-matter. This attitude is critical to the overall tone of the film, however; highlighted very early on by the director and then embodied in the manner in which Ari and his comrades are shipped off to War – to them it was an exciting time in life, almost like the readying for a holiday abroad rather than a life-changing and horrifying experience. It is in this way that Ari’s generation stumbled upon War, and the manner in which this feeling is presented is one of the film’s strongest points. Only during the final third of the film does it shift and take up a more serious approach, culminating finally in the swapping of animation for live-action in order to illustrate the tragic and terrible nature of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. With this simple decision Folman is able to represent not only his previously buried knowledge but also his coming to terms with this grievous event. As all films concerning a topic of this kind should be, Waltz with Bashir is not only sharp and insightful but also powerful and confronting, almost arresting at points yet without ever once feeling calculating or contrived.
Our Rating:
