Waltz With Bashir
Waltz With Bashir
Waltz with Bashir is the first movie I have seen that centres on the 1983 massacre in the Sabra and Shatila Palestine refugee camps, which was one of the darkest days of the The Lebanon War. The massacre was an act of revenge in the wake of President-elect Bashir Gemayel’s assassination, perpetrated by the Lebanese Christian Phalangist Party while Israeli forces stood aside at the outskirts of the camps, leading to the deaths of an estimated 1,000 Palestine refugees, many of whom were women, children, and elderly residents, few of whom were the targeted PLO dissidents. Possibly Israel’s darkest day, because of the strain it placed on their international relations and the damage it did to their reputation, the massacre is beginning to fade from history. Ariel Sharon, who would later become the Prime Minister of Israel, was forced to step down as The Defense Minister for his complacent role in the event, but the fact that he ultimately became the nation’s leader is an indication of our ability to forget. Perhaps the best source of information on this massacre is in Thomas Friedman’s Pulitzer Prize Winning New York Times Article and in his subsequent book, From Beirut to Jerusalem
The film is a look into the mental states of Israeli soldiers who stood by on the outskirts of the kill zone. The film’s protagonist, Ari Folman, is also its director, essentially making the film a documentary, though the director’s choice to make an animated film makes it more of a thought experiment. Ari cannot remember the day of the massacre and is intent and regaining his memory of the events. He goes on a series of interviews with his former brothers-in-arms and begins to gain perspective on the psychological damage that witnessing the massacre has caused his fellow soldiers. Most of those interviewed have seemingly forgiven themselves and place blame on the decision makers, which is probably common in war, but they retain a sense of repressed shame. Ari himself does not seem ashamed, just confused, and concerned about the reasons why he cannot remember anything on the day of the massacre. One interviewee is obviously well versed in psychology, and provides some interesting insight on the nature of memories. Others just describe their role, some with self-pity, others with tales of their own bravura.
The real question the viewer must ask is why Waltz With Bashir is an animated film, especially given that those interviewed are real war veterans sharing their experiences. Were those involved worried that showing their faces on film would make them targets of disdain? Are they ashamed at their complacency and would prefer not to fully involve themselves in the story? The movie does contain some pornographic material, but nothing so essential to the film that it couldn’t be removed in live action. The film’s several dream sequences are certainly more effective in animation. These are all potential factors in the director’s decision, as is the fact that the images of the massacre’s aftermath would spark a lot less rage than a live action panorama of slaughtered women and children, but I think the real reason for the animation is to intellectualize the director’s mission. He does not want the film seen as an apology for Israel’s actions, he wants to explore the psychosocial damage his fellow soldiers experienced. The soldiers followed orders, put their lives at risk, and witnessed some horrific images. The decision makers decided to allow the Phalangists into the settlement alone, and they are the ones to blame. The soldiers are the victims, but Ari does not want to go too far in humanizing their actions. A live action film might have been too compassionate in presenting the mental states of those interviewed. We should feel sorry for them, no decent human being wants to be implicated in a massacre, but we also need to remember that the massacred Palestinians, and their grieving families, are the true victims. The last shot in the film makes this very clear.
on July 21, 2010 at 5:50 pm
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