waltz with bashir

i watched Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir last night, which is about an Israeli war veteran turned film director trying to recover his memory about his involvement in the first Lebanon war in the 80s. i only watched the trailer beforehand and didn't know much about the film, nor the extensive history of the war, but by the last third of the film you realize that this is a real director speaking to real folks who were involved in the war, up until the tragic and startling ending (i'll leave it at that).

on multiple levels, the film is amazing and timely. on an artistic level, the film somewhat reminds me of the animated film Waking Life, with its surreal yet all-too-real images and characters. you forget you're watching an animated film because of the jilting sounds and characterizations, yet you're taken into a dream world where real people, real deaths, and real stories intermingle with delusions, fantasies and sometimes humor.

on a different level, the film couldn't come at a more, shall i say, important(?) time, when 410 children, 108 women, and 118 elderly peopled have died in Gaza at the hands of Israeli forces. as i was watching the scenes of rotting corpses of children, wailing widows/mothers, i couldn't but help to think of Gaza. i'm in the process of planning a Holocaust unit for my English class, and will probably use this film to incorporate the the Arab-Israeli conflict. altho i must say i have lots more to research on all of this...

on a psychological, psychoanalysis tip, the film also speaks on the concept of memory, and how we tend to forget and simultaneously create illusions in order to heal from traumatic circumstances. it's interesting how the director chose the genre of animation instead of documentary to capture his story -- it speaks to both his quest to capture the emotional/psychological depth of his experiences, but also speaks to his inability to recover the realities of what happened.

and on a rhetorical level (i can't help but pick at the film without my english teacher lens), i wanted to know more about the director's choice of title - "Waltz with Bashir." besides the explicit tie-in with the scene of a soldier "waltzing" around as he shoots randomly across a Lebanese overpass, i wonder if it had to do with the Israel's "waltzing" into Lebanon and massacring civilians without any notice or due process, or with the director's "waltzing" around and avoidance of his memory and role in the war.

so, if you're lookin for a different type of film, an emotional and deep fim, go see Walts with Bashir.