FILM REVIEW- Waltz With Bashir

Waltz With Bashir

By Simon Reed

Where? On Blu-ray

Film review-

This was always going to be a tough sell. A subtitled foreign language animation, with sex and violence, as well as a structure that is part memoir, part documentary. That’s also not mentioning that it’s about the complicated civil war in Lebanon that happened over twenty years ago. Sounds like a sure-fire mainstream hit, right?

Predictably, it didn’t get much attention from cinemas, but it now has the chance to get the attention it deserves on DVD, even if it will likely be on shop shelves for a short time.

The story follows Ari Folman (who is also the director and writer of the movie) and his attempts to remember his involvement in the conflict by meeting his old war comrades. These meetings result in flashbacks, ranging from tense gunfights, confessions of sexual frustration, to a news reporter with a death wish.

Unfortunately, the reasons behind the conflict are never truly explored, and parts of the film feel unnecessary and pointless making the plot feel like it has been cobbled together, resulting in some dull stretches. But the moments that do work, like the opening credits sequence involving a pack of crazed dogs, or the final, fascinating story of an unnoticed massacre linger in your memory long after the credits have rolled.

Yoni Goodman, the man behind the strange animation style in the film (it looks somewhat similar to the 2006’s A Scanner Darkly) has said the process, that took over four years, was so difficult it may never be used again. Waltz With Bashir, a film that is so different and so refreshing, will likely also never be seen again, so I recommend that you see it before it disappears from the shelves.

(3/5)

Extras review-

An interesting interview with Folman and the trailer. The Blu-ray has this as well as a one hour making of, and deleted scenes. Could do with a commentary but the disc offers enough information for fans.

(3/5)

Overall- (3/5)