"Waltz with Bashir" Movie Review

"Waltz with Bashir" is a film like no other. An animated movie throughout (except in the end), the film is actually a documentary hidden under the dramatic trappings of portrayed events.

It is the story of Ari Folman and his journey, both physical and emotional, to find out why he doesn't remember certain events during the Lebanese Civil War which involved Lebanon, Syria, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel.

Haunted by a strange, disturbing vision that was triggered when talking to an old friend about the war, Ari starts to question why he doesn't recount any of the details of the military strife during those days. His quest to find out what, where, when and why has him travelling to talk with former comrades and using their accounts and experiences to fill in the holes in his own troubled memory.

With each passing interview, Ari starts to rile in forgotten memories that now come back to haunt him. He re-"discovers" the many moments of war and destruction during the time when he was a soldier and attempts to arrange the puzzle pieces in order to figure out the original meaning of his vision.

His desire to fill the gaps in his memory turn back to plague him and near the end, Ari finally has an explanation of why he was involved and why him and his comrades took that 'waltz with Bashir'.

I am going to make a bold statement - "Waltz with Bashir" is the best movie of 2008. Forget the political ramifications of the movie releasing in the year that is rife with Middle Eastern conflict. Ari Folman (who is also the writer and director) has created something that borders on that thin line of art and exposition. His movie doesn't attempt to judge the accounts that took place, but instead, allows the viewer to come to their own conclusion based on the facts he presents. In effect, Ari is the witness on the stand, and the movie, his exhibit and we, the jurors, can either say "Yay" or "Nay".

At its core, the film is about human memory. How it can be manipulated, controlled and even let loose if, for a moment, the mind is unable to cope with what it deems to be "reality".

As a viewer, you may come to a conclusion that is drastically different than mine. I for one, consider memory a double-edged sword, a mechanism that delivers so much happiness and is yet, also capable to present to its human hostage, the worst nightmares.

All the accounts given by the various people in the film are all embedded in an eerie juxtaposition. War takes place in beautiful landscapes, the sun shines over the beaches while bombs drop over soldiers playing volleyball. It portrays war in a way I have never seen before. It makes you wonder, really, whether war can really be a product of humanity, because for all its alleged uses and justification, it remains, along with human memory; disturbingly unnatural.

Review written by Akhil Kamble

http://waltzwithbashir.com/