Waltz with Bashir: Thought Provoking Glimpse into the Twisted Experience of an Israeli War Veteran

http://www.siouxwire.com/2008/05/ari-folmans-waltz-with-bashir.html

             Shown on October 2, 2008 at the 46th Annual New York Film Festival, Waltz with Bashir directed by Ari Folman tells the story of an Israeli war veteran as he struggles to recount his memories and experiences during the 1982 Lebanon War. His failure to recollect his entire experience turns into an obsession. Through his travels and discussions with former friends, psychologists, reporters, and comrades, the narrator attempts to piece together his broken memories during his time as a soldier.

             Despite the use of this unconventional medium, animation, director Ari Folman succeeds in depicting the story in which veterans of any war can relate to: Lebanese, Vietnam, or Iraq War. However, it doesn’t take any military experience or knowledge to be entranced with Folman’s autobiographical story.             Opening with a scene of ferocious dogs obliterating everything in their paths; the audience is simultaneously captivated, disgusted, and confused. Although the dream sequences the protagonist envisions are sporadic and often puzzling, they intensify the extent of black holes in his memories. Folman’s use of surrealistic qualities in his animation causes the audience feel as if they are too hallucinating. This twisted confusion makes the viewers desperate and hungry to fill the missing gaps in the protagonist’s memories.

             Furthermore, the use of varying shades of beige and light brown enhances the grim war and death scenes we encounter. In addition to the color, the choice of music also contributes to the mood and tone of the documentary. As the title suggests, in one scene we see a soldier in a trance gracefully “waltzing” with a machine gun, shooting in every direction. While our eardrums are soothed by calming and peaceful harmony, our eyes are pierced with a gruesome and cruel scene, as innocent lives are taken with the soldier’s reckless shooting. Later, we see a family lined up facing a wall, one by one shot in the head, as if they are target practice. Though the soft serene music tunes out the sound of gunshots, it fails to hide the pools of blood forming under the bodies. Again, Folman captures the attention of the audience by presenting a stark contrast with the mood of a graceful and elegant song, while depicting a harsh reality.

             The only instance the documentary digresses is in the scene where one of the protagonist’s acquaintances is watching a pornographic film. The camera unnecessarily focuses on the explicit and raunchy sex scene at length. This piece of the puzzle didn’t fit, at all. In the flashbacks Folman purposely leaves out background information about characters, and intentionally confuses the audience with the surrealistic rendition of the soldier’s only memory. Unlike the dream sequences, the sex scene served no purpose and was a complete disconnect from the documentary’s message.

             The scene that overlooks any fault in the documentary is the last scene. In what feels like an eternity (actually three to four minutes) we are overwhelmed with horrid real war images. Folman mentions his goal in using these photographs was to remind viewers that behind the intricate and stunning drawings and animation, thousands of innocent men, women, and children, were slaughtered and killed.

             While we follow a war veteran’s journey traces his steps to figure out the missing details in his memory, Folman also pieces the missing details in the viewers’ memories as emphasized in the last scene of the documentary: any war, anywhere, is a place you don’t want to be in, ever.