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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

May 21, 2009


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2009-05-21

Bold and beautiful

Waltz with Bashir is a visually stunning animated retelling of the 1982 invaision of Lebanon

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WALTZ WITH?BASHIR
May 22-28, Cinematheque

A vivid, haunting representation of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Waltz with Bashir teems with searing notions about war and social unrest, illustrated through awe-inspiring animation.

Inspired by an army friend's account of being hunted down by a slobbering pack of dogs during the conflict in Tel Aviv, director Ari Folman boldly invigorates the docudrama by combining 2D, 3D and flash animation to bring to life what are, in essence, waking nightmares and fragments of memories.

The title, meanwhile, is a reference to Bashir Gemayel, the martyred figure of the Christian militias who was assassinated in 1982 while addressing his support for the Lebanese Army.

Folman evocatively recreates others' recollections while continually distancing his own on-screen representation, largely due his inability to recall his own experiences during these invasions. Time and time again, the events Folman remembers as truth are called into question by friends and strangers alike, as they offer other answers of what actually transpired. In the end, it's a staggering Rashomon-like chain of half-truths, none to be completely trusted but none to be ignored, either.

Above all else, Folman puts forth a shattering experience of conflict that acts as a time capsule for future generations.

Panic overrides the streets in the battle sequences, and the animation distils the travesties of war down to essentials: tanks rushing into Lebanon, crushing everything in their wake; a commander is shot as his soldiers scurry away. Another layer is added when Folman eventually introduces news footage into the mix mostly during the film's closing moments.

It's a rush of sensory overload inherently cinematic in its approach: Folman's film couldn't exist as a traditional History Television doc.

Max Richter's score is appropriately forbidding as it lashes out uncanny measures of tension.

A staple of Top 10 lists in 2008 and a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards, Waltz was the frontrunner and favourite for many.

Take this oppourtunity to see one of the best films of 2008.
— Aaron Graham

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