Why is this Waltz with Bashir in freestyle?
Written: Mar 14 '09 (Updated May 11 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Theme.
Cons: Execution.
The Bottom Line: I'm actually tempted to give it a lower grade.
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| updateghost's Full Review: Waltz with Bashir |
Style is good. It distinguishes the great films from the merely satisfactory. It helps a work of art elevate from amusing to heartbreaking. Some would-be-good films become great because of style; Before Sunset is a prominent example. Other films suffer for their lack of style, such as The Lives of Others. Yet style only works if it serves its content, and writer-director Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir's style does the film a great disservice.
What is Waltz with Bashir? A drama? A documentary? An "animated film"? Most would say it's a combination of the three. Folman records conversations between himself and other people on audio (without letting us know whether or not they are scripted), animates the discussions that took place, as well as dreams and flashbacks that the characters speak of, all in a visual style similar to the rotoscoping of Richard Linklater's Waking Life. The film documents Folman as he attempts to regain memories that he has lost from his participation as a 19-year-old Israeli soldier fighting in the 1982 Lebanon war.
What's immediately annoying about Folman's progression is that it reeks of contrivance. Did Folman actually record these conversations as they occurred and magically happen to remember certain events as he moved forward? And after this, did he just decide that since these conversations had conveniently been recorded, the material would be wonderful for a film? Waltz with Bashir's story seems too complete for how it was purportedly produced. Folman never bothers to indulge audiences with explanations for how everything worked out so neatly, expecting us to trust him without reservation.
The animation, the element of this film that has been singled out the most, appears tossed together rather than crafted - unsurprising, since so much of it was manufactured with Flash. It's best during the flashbacks, when Folman recalls what happened, but fails miserably in the interview scenes, where the vaguely, blandly drawn facial expressions can't convey what the speakers are thinking or feeling. Despite the fact that the flashbacks manage to capture some of the scenery that Folman recalls (while still being held back by the weak visages), the reality is that many of these flashbacks aren't necessary: The speakers convey settings in words vivid enough for viewers to imagine them on their own. Lacking necessity, the flashbacks become exploitative. Folman throws in arbitrary, sentimental details (such as a Lebanese soldier urinating on a corpse) that aren't even included in the scenes that the speakers describe, and since Folman can't fully remember these scenes anyway, one has to wonder if some of the details that he includes are true.
Despite its pitfalls, one can go along with the film's animation. What one can't go along with is how enormously Folman fails to situate viewers. Having been involved in the war, and likely having researched it extensively, it's apparent that Folman knows much about the social and political context of the time - if this is the case, why doesn't he bother to provide such details? Instead of being informed of where, when and why certain scenes are happening, Folman frequently throws environments in front of us without explanation, and we're left wondering what on earth is occurring. It's difficult to feel sympathy for characters whose situations you can't grasp.
The only reason that Waltz with Bashir doesn't end up completely neutral is because of one of its central themes, which is the idea of how Folman's experiences became like dreams. Some of the trauma that Folman underwent caused his mind to view certain events as if they weren't really happening; his disbelief was that large. A scene where a psychologist comments upon this idea is the film's most compelling. Outside of that, being drudgery to sort through, and occasionally execrable in how it takes advantage of viewers, Waltz with Bashir's 90 minutes play as if they're twice the length.
Rating: C+
Recommended:
No
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updateghost
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Member: Tom Speaker
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