Review of Waltz with Bashir (2008) by Devon B — 20 Dec 2009

The title "Waltz With Bashir" refers to a specific scene in the movie, where a soldier dances in the middle of the street to dodge gunfire, as he fires his machine gun at hidden snipers. Bashir is Bachir Gemayel, the commander of the Lebanese forces who was assassinated just 3 weeks after being elected president.

It was his assassination that led to the Sabra and Shatila massacre, where the Phalangist party to which Bashir belonged, went into Beirut's Palestinian refugee camps and murdered possibly thousands of people.

The Israeli Defense Force, who had been aiding the Lebanese Forces, stood by and let the massacre happen, supposedly with full knowledge of it's taking place. The film "Waltz With Bashir" takes a look at these events through the eyes of a former Israeli soldier, who, now 30 years later, can't seem to recall the events of what took place.

He can't seem to recall any of the details of his service in fact, and spends the movie attempting to piece together memories from the recollections of his comrade soldiers. What Persepolis did to show us Iran's cultural revolution from the 70s/80s, Waltz With Bashir does to show us Lebanon in the early 80s, with it's comic book style realistic style that allows you to sometimes forget you're watching a cartoon.

What isn't so easy to forget is how closely Waltz With Bashir mirrors our own involvement with countries such as Iraq and Afganistan. Despite this though, there's not much universal appeal to this film, it's Israeli film that appeals primarily to Israelis.

I certainly wouldn't call it a bad film, just not one meant for American audiences.