notes of a non-combatant

waltz with reality

Popular media tends to misrepresent the reality of warfare by glorifying, skewing, or otherwise inaccurately portraying harrowing battles. There are important reasons to shield a general audience from the small truths of warfare, mainly because they are unappealing, terrifying, and appalling even to those who don’t completely understand the gravity of violence, fear, disfigurement, or death. By nature, televised news media misrepresents the details of war through inherent omission, as thirty seconds of film reel and narration fail to portray but a fraction of reality as it is experienced by those in the actual situation. When the evening news lacks the time to offer insight, print media provides the space, though written words and photographs have great difficulty evoking the emotions of life in combat. Cinema offer both ample time and a solid medium that allows vivid representation, though films also have their drawbacks; as filmmakers must tailor themselves towards an audience, expensive cinematic representations often focus on what an audience expects to see rather than showcasing reality in its entirety.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... A Palestinian running, carrying a wounded man

Every form of media has its drawbacks, but when used well, can be masterfully employed to offer a deeper understanding of a subject. The film “Waltz With Bashir” does just that, oddly enough, also through misrepresentation. The film takes a two-pronged approach that utilizes a style of animation similar to cartoons, which visually portrays violent and offensive scenes in a somewhat unrealistic layout, with all of the truthful elements presented in a palatable and understandable manner. Upon creating the movie, its filmmakers discarded the typical farce that stems from interpreting warfare with the use of creative freedom; rather, the filmmakers provided the deepest portrayal of reality in all its gory detail, without offending the senses or turning stomachs.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... Beirut during Israel's aerial bombing campaign.

The use of animation is not the only gem that this film offers. Its portrayal of war is realistic and accurate despite how absurd it appears to be, which is a sentiment that is only supported by its animated appearance. The entire film follows an Israeli veteran of the First Lebanon War as he searches for lost memories by pulling details from fellow veterans and reconstructing memories. As the story advances, the film switches between flashbacks and the present reality in the blink of an eye, without offering pretext, morals, or any conclusions for the flashbacks, as well as giving little direction in the antagonist’s search for memories. Every flashback tells a story, a non sequitur chain of events that are only tied to each other by the whimsical presence of fear, anxiety, death, destruction, and the inevitable progression of time.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... A Palestinian family among the rubble of their house.

Unlike most action films with special effects or adrenaline-pumping soundtracks, “Waltz With Bashir” offers a contrasting portrayal of war, full of silence, uncertainty, luck, and an unmasked lack of objectivity that is inherent in warfare. There are scenes peppered with the mundane realities of a military invasion, mixed in with random violence and combat that seems to spontaneously occur. Although the viewer would like to think that violence does not take place so simply, that military action follows a chain of command, and that life is of more value than the film portrays, these sentiments miss the mark in the reality of modern warfare. Simultaneous to portraying the grim details of warfare for those unfamiliar with it, the film also provides indirect commentary for Israelis who are all too familiar with the war and all similar and subsequent military engagements.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... A unit of Israeli soldiers randomly shot down on the streets of Beirut.

There is no question that the film opposes war, although it does not simply spell out its message. Rather, it portrays peaceful, civilized individuals as they are cast into sudden warfare and made to witness, or even commit, violent and inhumane acts. By contrasting this scenario against the backdrop of the antagonist’s quaint life during a time of peace, it can only lead the viewer to hold a strong preference for peace, lest the atrocities portrayed in animation repeat themselves in reality.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... Palestinian women walk through the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, which are overflowing with corpses.

The film does not cut itself short upon achieving so much, as it completes the story in such a manner to provide closure to the antagonist but also suggests the viewer follow suit. As the final scene pans across images of horror and grief as women walk about the streets and wail in mourning, there comes a point when the young character confronts the atrocity that his military assignment has become. As women leave streets piled with corpses, bodies strewn about from the massacre, they walk down an alleyway and right past him as he realizes the entirety of what the war has become. This is the magic of “Waltz With Bashir,” as it is a film that succeeds in bringing a fresh and deep portrayal of warfare without any dilution, yet it also confronts the issues surrounding personal responsibility throughout military operations on an individual level.

A still from "Waltz With Bashir" ... The main character confronts the aftermath of the massacre at Sabra and Shatila.