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December 19, 2008
Dancing with his tormentors
New Israeli movie deals with the haunting memories of battle.
RON FRIEDMAN
Waltz With Bashir, a new movie by Israeli director Ari Folman (Saint Clara, 1996), is a groundbreaking film that has been receiving a lot of attention on the international scene. Winning awards from Tel Aviv to Tokyo, the film that chronicles the experiences of Israeli soldiers during the 1982 Lebanon War, combines the realism of a documentary with the surrealism of an animated film.
When Folman is asked by a friend to help make sense of a dream that's been haunting him – a dream that features memories of the war that they both participated in as young men – Folman realizes that his own recollections of the war are faint. Actually, he can't recall anything at all. The only memory he has is a vague fantasy-like scene in which he and two friends walk out of the sea into the night streets of a ravaged Beirut. Troubled by his inability to remember something that was central to his life, he sets on a project to regain his memories, with the aid of friends and acquaintances from his time in the service.
The film consists of Folman's interviews with the men he fought alongside in the war and with others who were there and had stories to tell. One after another, the interview subjects share their harrowing war stories. Tales of fear and bravery, nobility and stupidity, relief and disgust – all you'd expect from a blood-soaked battlefield. The innovative use of animation and music allows the stories he is told to come to life on the screen with dramatic and fantastic poignancy, far better than even the liveliest oral narrative or reenactment could.
The focal point of the memories, the film and, for Folman, the war, was the massacre that took place in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatilla. The massacre, which the Christian militias committed against the civilian population of the two villages, was sparked by the assassination of then-president of Lebanon Bashir Gemayel (hence the film's title), assumingly by Palestinian militants. Since then, Israel has come under heavy criticism for allowing the massacre to take place in an area under its control. In the film, Folman makes the case that, though the Israelis didn't take part in the actual shooting, they knew about what was happening and that, by not stopping it, they share some of the responsibility.
One of the most compelling interviews in the film is that with Roni Dayag, a lone survivor of an ambush on his tank unit. Dayag was able to escape the burning tank and find cover behind a boulder. The Palestinians who attacked his unit left the area, thinking everyone was dead, and Dayag, under the cover of night, managed to swim to safety.
Waltz With Bashir, in its ability to exaggerate, distort and embellish reality through the use of animation, probably better than any other war movie, manages to capture the soldier's-eye view of war. It also makes insightful observations on the nature of memory and the importance of friendship and of personal authenticity. All in all, this is a remarkable feat for a cartoon. No doubt, Folman's is a name film lovers should remember.
The Vancouver Jewish Film Society is hosting a special presentation of Waltz With Bashir as part of its Sunday Morning Bagels and Movie series, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m., at the Park Theatre on Cambie and 19th. Free bagels, juice and coffee will be available. Tickets in advance are $12 and they can be purchased online at www.festivalcinemas.ca, in person at the Shalom B.C. desk in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver or by phoning the VJFF office at 604-266-2645.
The film's general release in Vancouver is Dec. 26.
To read more about the film and its unique production process, visit www.waltzwithbashir.com.
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