"Waltz with Bashir" movie review

(Fig 1 – movie poster)

“Waltz with Bashir” is a film directed in 2008 by Ari Folman.  Maybe the best selling point about the animation is how the director was able to visualise the visions, dreams and stories of the people interviewed. The overall feeling is like watching a documentary with very surreal graphics at places. The only thing that keeps the viewer from actually criticizing the movie is the sensitive subject covered throughout. The story is indeed shocking and it could be argued that leaving the viewers with a bitter aftertaste is what we are supposed to feel and how we are supposed to react. It also covers themes like memory perhaps criticizing modern society for their forgetfulness about the horrors experienced not-so-long-ago. 

Technically the film is beautifully executed and creates a very well thought through atmosphere. For instance there is an overall “sluggish” feeling in the movements of the characters but that fits perfectly with the subtitles, giving you enough time to actually read and watch at the same time. The limited colour scheme works really well as well and the transitions between the real world and dreams/nightmares were working perfectly by simply changing the colours of the scenes. The ending of the film however, destroys the well-executed animated world and forces the viewer into the reality of war and death. It really is uncomfortable watching it, but it contributes to the reality of this film.

Personally I find military films distasteful and I don’t see how talking about war and violence does any good to the people watching it. It also has no entertaining value – it simply offers a blunt view on agony and death. There is always an undergoing theme as well of comradery and heroism depending on which point of view the film is made. As I said in the beginning of my review I cannot really judge the film because of the sensitive topic. I liked it technically but I wouldn’t watch it again. 

Illustration:

Fig. 1 – movie poster - Gstatic.com, (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/movieposters/187168/p187168_p_v8_ab.jpg [Accessed 11 Feb. 2016].