Toolkit 2: Infographic/Title Sequence - Inception

Premise: Interim Critique

Toolkit 2: Life Drawing #10

Perspectives: Dissertation OGR

Toolkit 2: Life Drawing #9

Perspectives: Dissertation - Proof of Dissertation Concept

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Film Review: World Animation - Israel: Waltz with Bashir

Fig 1: Poster.

Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (2008) is a drama, biography animation, in a documentary style. The film is about Ari as he tries to recollect his memories of the 1982 Lebanon War. He meets with an old friend at a bar who tells him about his recurring nightmare of being chased by 26 vicious dogs. They connect it to their Israeli Army mission. Ari remembers it some parts of the past, but he finds huge parts of it missing. He sets out and interviews old friends and people who can help him fill in the holes in his memory and uncover the truth.

Fig 2: Dog

The film works with two themes mainly, one being memories and the other being war. In the film, the 45-years-old Folman, talking with people, fellow veterans from the war and listening to their stories and memories, while the 19-years-old past self is also shown as he is a part of the war. 

Both core themes of the film are rather challenging. Memories, just like dreams can be abstract, and it can be hard to portray them correctly while showing a clear enough narrative for viewers to understand. Furthermore, memories can be deceiving and untrustworthy, as sometimes people 'remember' things that have never happened. The other theme can also be a difficult theme to deal with, but not because of its abstraction, but because of its strong emotional value. There are lots of war films out there, each looking at the topic from different angles. This film shows a memory of someone who has been in a war and knows what it is really like.

Ari Folman is an Israeli film director, screenwriter and film score composer. He is most known for directing the live-action / animated film The Congress, and directing the animated Waltz With Bashir. Some of the animators working on this film, where animation director Yoni Goodman, and lead animators Gali Edelbaum and Tal Gadon; and art director/illustrator David Polonsky.

Folman made this film to show not only what he went through during the war, but also to show the world of a common soldier. At the events of the war he was only 19-years-old, he and his fellow soldiers often had no idea what was going on or why they had to do what they did. He is clarifying that not all Israeli soldiers are emotionless killers, but often are just young and scared boys. While he hardly touches on politics and the wrongfulness of some decisions, the film quietly but powerfully shows the harshness of how politicians ignorance can result in horrific events, such as the massacre at the refugee camps. Furthermore, he shows the story from his point of view, but he did not intend to show the IDF soldiers as victims, or the only victims, as it clearly shows the tragic treatment and deaths of refugees of  Sabra and Shatila.

Fig 3: Refugees.

The making of the film is often mistaken for rotoscoping, which is an animation technique, tracing over a video to achieve realistic animation. This film has a similar technique, but it is not traced over, it simply uses the video as a reference. The final product is an animation, which combines, Flash animation, traditional animation, and 3D, with the few last minutes being actual, real footage of the aftermath of the war at the refugee camps. It took 4 years to make. The making involved real video which was based on a long script, serving as a reference for the animation, the footage being 90 minutes. The video was then transformed into a storyboard, and later onto 2300 original illustrations. These illustrations were cut up into lots of pieces and moved, creating the illusion of movements. Only really small part of the film was 3D animation, created with Autodesk Maya.

Fig 4: Making of.

The director was asked whether he has throught about making it live-action, which he replied to confirming, he thought animation helps to convey the abstractness of memories, hallucinations, and dreams, which if live-action would have looked strange and not exactly what he wanted to show. This has proved to be a strong reasoning since some scenes would have looked absurd, such as the appearance of the giant woman in the sea. Furthermore, the possible advantage of it being made an animation is that some scenes and themes are slightly easier for the audience to digest. For instance, the whole film has a very heavy tone, with strong and violent imigery, but the final real footage is the one causing some audience members to feel the realness of the story. Lastly, the animation helps to set the mood of the scene easier, as the dark colours and shadows show the darkness of the topic and emotions.

Fig 5: Woman in the sea.

The film has proved to be very successful worldwide, with high ratings from all over different websites, critics, magazines and festivals. Based on 145 critics, Rotten Tomatoes has a 96% 'fresh' or positive rating and reviews; or David Walsh at the Toronto film festival has called it "painfully honest" anti-war film and one of the most extraordinary and haunting films. Surprisingly, the film has not received huge success in Israel. The animation has been banned in a few Arabic countries including Lebanon. However, some people have rebelled against the government's ban and there was a secret screening in Beirut in 2009. Ari Folman claims he wished he could have been there and he would be the happiest is one day he could present it in Beirut himself. Furthermore, the public has received it largely positively, but as always there were negative critiques, such as the film not paying enough attention to what happened at the refugee camps or the political ignorance, followed by some pick on minor things and scenes.

The film was nominated for awards, such as Academy Awards (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film), European Film Awards (nominated for Best Film), Broadcast Film Critics Awards (nominated for Best Animated Film). It was the first animated film (as well as the first R-rated animation film) to receive a nomination for either an Academy Award or a Golden Globe Award. The film has won awards such as Golden Globe Awards (won Best Foreign Language Film), International Documentary Association Awards (won Feature Documentary), National Society of Film Critics Awards (won Best Film).

Illustration List:
Figure 1: Poster. [Online] At: https://euphrates.org/movie-review-waltz-bashir/ (Accessed on 01.02.2018)
Figure 2: Dog. [Film Still] At: http://www.5zvezd.ru/films/49563/ (Accessed on 01.02.2018)
Figure 3: Refugees. [Film Still] At: https://thirdcinema.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/waltz-with-bashir-israelfrancegermanyusjapanfinlandswitzerlandbelgiumaustralia-2008/ (Accessed on 01.02.2018)
Figure 4: Making of. [Online] At: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/38702878018145933/ (Accessed on 01.02.2018)
Figure 5: Woman in the sea. [Film Still] At: http://deneroff.com/blog/2008/05/18/waltz-with-bashir/ (Accessed on 01.02.2018)