Film Reviews

Waltz With Bashir

• Rating:
• Director: Ari Folman
• Starring:
• Details: Israel/Germany/France / 90mins (TBC).

Animated docu-dramas aren't exactly ten-a-penny and mightn't ignite a great deal of interest, but the brilliance of Waltz With Bashir is unmissable. Although present during the battle of Beirut and the subsequent massacres of Sabra and Shatila in the first Lebanese War in 1982, former Israeli soldier Ari Folman can't remember anything, it's as if his mind was wiped clean. Tracking down comrades who served with him and interviewing journalists in the field, Folman begins to piece together information about the revenge atrocities perpetrated by Christian-Lebanese militiamen - supported by the Israeli army - days after president-elect Bashir Gemeyal was assassinated. But can Folman trust a memory that has been repressed this long?

Shot in the rotoscoping style with the fractured plotline of a Terrence Malick film, Waltz With Bashir is an astonishing and brave piece of work. Writer-director Folman dots his flashback-heavy narrative with surreal imagery and real interviews (although some interviewee's voices are disguised by actors) that add to the dream-like description of the events. This can, however, put emotional distance between the viewer and the events that unfold but that is what Folman is trying to get at - he was there but can't root out his feelings about it. With its haunting visuals, investigations into suppressed memories, explorations of guilt and dealings with a difficult subject matter that some view contentious, this can be heavy going and hard to watch at times. Anything worth doing is always tough, though, and this is one of the most moving and powerful films to be released this year.

Review by Gavin Burke