Israeli war film one of year's best

It it jarring, compelling, disturbing and thought-provoking.

Now, after sparking debate in Israel, the award-winning, animated Israeli war film "Waltz With Bashir" is coming to the United States.

The documentary film about a haunted Israel's exploration of his role in the massacres at Sabra and Shatila is winning spots on film critic lists for the best films of 2008. 

Last week, it was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Film category, and is set to be Israel's official selection for the Academy Awards.

"This film manages to touch people who don't even know what continent Israel is on," said director Ari Folman. "That's the beauty of cinema, that's its power."

As with "Beaufort," the stark, Oscar-nominated 2007 Israeli film about the last soldiers to leave Lebanon in 2000, "Waltz With Bashir" offers a personal exploration of life as an Israeli soldier caught up in often-inconceivable inhumanity.

“This film documents — really documents — the feelings and sensations and emotional experiences of a simple soldier in a war which is very similar to those being conducted now in Gaza and in the West Bank,” said Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli journalist famous for his reporting of the 1982 war and a character in the film.

The film has generated raw debates in the Middle East. Some see it as a thoughtful exploration of Israel's culpability in the Lebanese massacres. Others think it fails to show the true impact of those events on the victims.

When Arab-Anglo blogger Doshka saw the film in Israel in June, she offered a thoughtful review that captured the nuance and complexity of the story.

"You leave the theater somehow forgiving of Israel's limited role in the massacre because they talk about it, examine it, acknowledge to their culpability as it arises," Doshka wrote."Which is true, if we are just talking about Sabra and Chatila, and Ari. But Ari, this is about you, but it's also not just about you... Despite the criticisms I have, this is an utterly worthwhile film. As art, its beautiful. As a story, it's one of the important stories, belonging to a narrative of this region's mishmash of memory. It's worthwhile too, for its use of irony, music and surreal montages. It's worthwhile for its self-reflective criticism: a shot of a tank in Sidon seen from the outside crushing cars and bashing holes into homes _ and seen from within the tank as well."

The film opens in the US on Dec. 26th. Look for it in a theater near you. 

Comments

[Edie]

"You leave the theater somehow forgiving of Israel's limited role in the massacre because they talk about it, examine it, acknowledge to their culpability as it arises," Doshka wrote.

Excuse me?

Israel played a KEY role,not a limited role, in the massacre and disapearances of Palestinians and Lebanese during that time. Israeli troops surrounded the area known as Sabra and Shatila and had promised to help protect the civilians that were left behind with no protection once the Palestinian and Lebanese fighters surrendered their weapons and left for Tunisia.

They started bombing the area forcing people to seek protection in shelters and the hospital which made it easier for the Lebanese Christian Phalangists to find them when the Israeli troops allowed them to enter (knowing that the Phalangists hated the Palestinians and were out to seek revenge).

They fired flares into the night sky for THREE nights knowing full well that murder was happening.

Ariel Sharon, then Defence Minister of Israel, was found guilty and responsible for the civilian deaths that resulted.

Source: Cursed is the Peacemaker by John Boykin and Sabra and Shatila by Bayan al Hout

I don't care how much Ari 'self-reflected' people begged, BEGGED for their lives and were cut down. Babies, mothers, elderly, poor, Palestinian, Lebanese, weaponless - none were spared. Many knew the Phalangists were coming and begged Israeli troops to let them leave, they were refused and sent back. (Many were never seen again - their bodies never found).

I would like to see this filmand I'll probably sympathise with the current Ari, but that doesn't undo the horror of that day; the lives that were lost or those who continue to live with the nightmare of returning and having to deal with their family members' bodies.

[Gary Rosen]

Dion, how hard did you laugh at the "Gilad Shalit opera". We know you got a big kick out of it.

[Amir]

By no doubt, the best Israeli film in recent years. I heard many stories about this war from my parents - both were in the military at the time - and when I watched the film, I sometimes felt like I have already seen the pictures...