KineticSeoul
This a unique movie that is in a somewhat documentary form, but also follows the story of a Israeli infantry soldier that can't really remember or wants to forget the past during his military days because of guilt and thus can't remember. So he goes around asking others that are psychologist and other witnesses of certain events when it comes to the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In order to retrace what went down and recollect his memories. Watching this movie is like seeing the traumatic experience including some guilt that the soldiers go through even years after the military days. Some may say that the animation factor may take away from the effective seriousness of the situation. However I thought it made this film, more immersive and engrossing to the situation at hand. They could have used real actors, but it adds more of that psychedelic and psychological aspect to this film through the animation. Kinda like being in a dream like state, which actually adds more to the perspective of the soldiers. And when it comes to the perspectives of the witnesses that experienced the harsh event. The animation here is well done and effective, kinda reminded me of the animation of the show Archer except more realistic when it comes to the movements. This film is heartfelt and gut-churning, with a bit of humanity in it as well. The imagery when it comes to the animation is also innovative in a way that it adds quite a bit of emotion to the whole package. This is a thought provoking film with elements of seeing things from the other sides perspective, in another words it has a good dose of empathy. I am planning to see this one again to recollect certain parts and elements I might have missed.8.3/10
tieman64
"If I'd been doing public relations for the Israeli army, I couldn't have thought of a more brilliant scheme to get them off the hook. Suddenly the villains were Christian militiamen! But in the two months of the siege, the Israelis established that everyone in west Beirut was a legitimate target; they hit every part of the city, using the vilest of modern weapons and showing absolutely no concern for the lives of civilians." - Tony Clifton ("God Cried") An animated documentary, Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir" watches as a group of Israeli Defence Force soldiers acknowledge that they've been repressing a very specific memory: after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, IDF forces stood back and watched as Christian sects murdered 3500 Palestinian and Shite civilians in what would come to be known as the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Folman then likens Israel's behaviour to that of Nazi concentration guards during the Holocaust. Ironically, whilst the film pretends to be about an admittance of guilt, it's largely an act of evading responsibility. The IDF supported Christian militias for years, the massacre in question lasted days (not hours as shown in the film), and the IDF was directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths during the conflict, not "indirectly responsible" for a single massacre as shown.Some context: Britain ruled Palestine during the 1920s and 1930s. Palestinians waged a long civil war with the British, attempting to kick them out. In 1947, Britain pulled out and rigged UN votes led to Palestine being split in two (wholly illegally, the Security Council never approving the policy). One chunk went toward "Arabic" Palestinians, the other became the newly formed state of Israel. Zionists agreed with this mandate, but the Arab High Committee didn't. The civil war which began against the British then turned against the newly founded state of Israel.In 1948, some 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes. 55 percent of Palestine was then given to Jews who previously controlled 7 percent of the land and made up less than 30 percent of the population. Meanwhile, more Jews are flown in from around the world. Israel deems Palestinians "not indigenous", whilst ignoring the fact that not all Jews descend from ancient Hebrews (whilst many Palestinians do). As Israel grows, the Arab-Israel war intensifies. Partially in response to sixteen high profile massacres (which would morph into 33), the most famous being the Deir Yassin massacre, five nations attack Israel. Israel, though oft portrayed as victim (she was both victim and oppressor), outnumbers all Arab/Palestinian combatants combined. Each side believes they are in the right. The massacres continue.By the end of the war, Israel captures 78 percent of Palestinian land. Towns are obliterated and renamed, maps are redrawn and 750,000 Palestinians find themselves refugees. After decades of squabbles, the Six Day War begins in 1967 with Israeli launching surprise air-raids on Egypt (Israel, the UK and France had warred with Egypt over ownership of the Sinai peninsula several times before). Here Israel swiftly occupies the last remaining 22 percent of Palestinian land, as well as parts of Egypt, Sinai and Syria (the Golan Heights, never returned). As the years go by, Palestine would come to resemble a giant concentration camp, walls and checkpoints erected, its infrastructure annihilated and more land slowly confiscated. Roughly 8 million dollars a day would flow from the US to Israel, the tiny nation now a regional superpower. Meanwhile, Israel increasingly uses "Palestinian rocket attacks" to justify their militancy (about 12 Israelis died to Palestinian rockets over the past 2 decades). Numerous peace plans are drawn up (most famously UN 242), most of which are rejected for very specific reasons: the fear that a Palestinian majority will develop within Israel ("the demographic problem") and the fear that acquired land and settlements, all of which are deemed illegally stolen by the International Court of Justice, will have to be returned ("the withdrawal problem"). Since 1976, there has been overwhelming international consensus in support of a two state plan in keeping with internationally recognised borders. The consensus includes Arab states and the Organisation of Islamic States. The US and Israel have blocked these proposals for almost 4 decades.The Palestinian Liberation Organisation was formed in 1964. Since 1974 it has been recognised by the UN and most other nations as the "government" of Palestine. Israel views it as a "terrorist organisation". The PLO would recognise Israel's right to exist in peace in 1993, accepting UN242 and rejecting all violence and terrorism. Also "representing" Palestine is Fatah, a major political party within the PLO, founded by Yasser Arafat, and Hamas, an ultra right-wing, demented offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, once backed by Britain/Mossad to essentially destroy the PLO and provide justification for Israeli counter-violence.In 1982, after years of trying to trigger "internationally recognised provocation", Israel invaded Lebanon outright. The invasion was justified with a very specific lie: the assertion that the PLO, which represented over 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Southern Lebanon, was behind an attempted assassination on an Israeli ambassador. Meanwhile, Israel launches hundreds of illegal incursions into Lebanon between 1980-82, as well as bombing runs on refugee camps. The 1982 invasion was used to expel the PLO from Lebanon, dethrone the Lebanese government and install in Lebanon a pro-Christian leader called Bachir Gemayel. The PLO headquarters would move to Libya. The militant organisation, Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, was formed in response to the invasion.Throughout the 1970s, Lebanese Christian sects were backed/armed by Israel and UK. They included the South Lebanese Army and the Kataeb Party (the Lebanese Phalanges Party), a violent, right-wing sect. These groups used the 1982 Lebanese invasion, and Israeli air-raids, as cover for larger attacks on Palestinian refugees. Israel gave them explicit carte blanche to do this, one result being the Sabra and Shatila massacre.6/10 – Nightmarish, powerful but thin. Worth one viewing.
