"Waltz With Bashir" (2008)

Fig. 1 "Waltz With Bashir" Poster

Winning in total 28 awards including the “Golden Globe Award“ for Best Foreign Language Film and being nominated for an additional 26 in other categories, “Waltz With Bashir (2008)“, written and directed by Israeli film director and screen writer Ari Folman, is now also known as the first Israeli winner of the “Golden Globe Award“ and not to mention the first documentary film to win the award. “Waltz With Bashir (2008)“ the Israeli animated war documentary film tells the story of its writer Ari Folman in his pursuit of revealing what had happened in the 1982 Lebanon War in which he participated. However, due to his memory loss he visits his former war comrades, interviewing them in hope of regaining his own. “Before the film, I had the main story line of my army service, but there were black holes . . . There were gaps in memory.“ (Robin Shulman, 2009) Recollections of his fellow soldiers including scenes of firefights in orchards, grenade shooting boys aiming at them, the terrifying assault on Beirut as well as surviving bloody ambushes, flashbacks visits Folman: fragmented, but rather detailed recollections of one big horrifying event he witnessed during the war.

Fig. 2 Fragmented memory

Ari Folman born on December 17 1962 in Haifa, Israel is a well-known Israeli film director and screen writer thanks to his brilliant animated war documentary “Waltz With Bashir“ based on his experiences during the Lebanon War when he was 19 years old. After his service he decided to make a trip through Asia which inspired him to study Film Studies on his return to Israel. As his graduation project he created “Comfortably Numb (1991)“ which won the “Ophir Award“, an Israeli film award. Throughout his career Folman dedicated himself to documentaries discussing the topics of war. Folman got his inspiration for the film “Waltz With Bashir (2008)“ from his fellow comrade Boaz Rein-Buskila who told him his ever recurring dream in which he is chased by 26 terrifying dogs. Together they came to the conclusion that it is closely linked to the Lebanon War. Folman who completely suppressed his memories of this time of his life decides to visit and interview his fellow soldiers about the past.

Fig. 3 Dogs on the chase

Even though Folman chose to make it a classic 2D animation with cut-out drawings, the animation itself seems to have its own unique style.  Folman wanted to achieve a realistic style to capture the emotional focus of the movie. Just as one of the top critics on OrlandoSentinel Roger Moore states Folman managed to achieve what he desired: “The look of Waltz with Bashir is what is most arresting. It's a deep, multi-plane style of animation that incorporates photo-real settings, realistic renderings of the people and under-animated movement, especially of faces.“ (Roger Moore, 2009) However, his realistic approach encountered difficulties animating the lower body part in slower motion. Many people think the animation is rotoscoped, but Folman emphasizes that this is not the case at all: “I respect rotoscoping and I even like “Waking Life“, unlike my animators. But, for me, rotoscoping has a big problem in conveying emotions. You see the technique, you see the drawings, and that takes your focus.“ (Debra Kaufman, 2008) Folman‘s choice to animate instead of providing real footage makes the audience wonder if it is a real documentary which proves to be in some aspects problematic.

According to the awards this film has won “Waltz With Bashir“‘s popubarity among its audience is guaranteed. After watching this brilliant documentary discussing the topics of war, memory, ethics, nationality and psychology one would definitely agree with Jonathan Freedland when he says: “Waltz With Bashir is a documentary, yet it is animated. It tells a series of true stories, yet unspools like a hallucination. It is gripping, painful, and lingers in the mind long after the credits roll.“ (Jonathan Freedland, 2008)

Bibliography:
Shulman, R. (2009). Interview With ‘Waltz With Bashir‘ Director Ari Folman. (online) Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012300838.html  (Accessed on 21/02/2018)
Moore, R. (2009). Movie review: Waltz with Bashir - - 4 out of 5 stars. (online) Available at: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-movie-review-walz-with-bashir-story.html (Accessed on 21/02/2018)
Kaufman, D. (2008). How They Did It: Waltz With Bashir. (online) Available at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2008/12/how-they-did-it-waltz-with-bashir/ (Accessed on 21/02/2018)
Freedland, J. (2008). Lest we forget. (online) Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/oct/25/waltz-with-bashir-ari-folman (Accessed on 21/02/2018)

Illustration List:
Fig 1. Waltz With Bashir Poster. At: http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2009/11/Waltz-with-Bashir.jpg (Accessed on 22/02/2018)
Fig 2. Fragmented memory. At: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bL_2tc7uXco/maxresdefault.jpg (Accessed on 22/02/2018)
Fig 3. Dogs on the chase. At: https://thirdcinema.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/bashir-dogs.jpg (Accessed on 22/02/2018)