Animation Screening: Waltz With Bashir

Animation Screening 14/1/16

Introduction

This was our first animation screening for the second term. We were shown an animated film in a film environment to show the film for what it was made for or how it should be shown. We were shown a few videos before the film showing how they made the film and interviews with the team and the creator: Ari Folman.

Session

We were shown: Waltz With Bashir created by Ari Folman.

 

http://waltzwithbashir.com/

 

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Waltz_with_Bashir_Poster.jpg]

 

This is an animated film about real world events and following the experiences of an ex-marine. The style seemed rotoscoped however it was fully animated with live action video for reference.

Within the interviews Ari Folman claimed that this is a "non political film" because this follows what he had experienced with no external influence.

They animated the characters within film much like puppets with separate parts being moves and manipulated rather than re-drawing each frame over and over again.

The film looked very much like a moving graphic novel with very bold lines and strong colour pallets.

The film tells the story of an ex-marine revisiting his memories of the Lebanon War.

Here is the synopsis from the website:

"One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images …"

[http://waltzwithbashir.com/film.html]

Conclusion

I felt that the film had a very powerful ending with the live action video about the events which was a drastic and sudden shock compared to the animation which was shown throughout the film.

This is not the usual film I would watch or would be interested in, but I still found it interesting and glad I was shown it. At first I was confused why they just didn't use live action for the interviews as the film was mostly dialogue and I found the animation very distracting at times. However with the reveal at the end of the film I understood why.

Overall, I felt that the film had an interesting story; however I felt at times the animation was too distracting or wooden which took me out of the atmosphere of the film.