Israeli Account of Massacres in Lebanon

 Waltz with Bashir is the semi-biographical account of director Ari Folman’s attempt to recall his bloody tour of duty in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.  The film has been a hit at most of the world’s international film festivals, but shocked many when it walked away from Cannes without a prize.
The film follows Folman’s meetings with his psychologist friend, and several of his army companions, as he tries to piece together what happened during his time in Lebanon. At the beginning of the film the only memory he has is of him and two soldier friends lying in the sea off Beirut’s southern shores. This haunting scene is repeated and evolves throughout the film, as Folman begins to reveal his part in the horrific events in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps.
The film is shot in rotoscope, giving it a freedom to portray the unreal nature of memories and dreams, and to create a surreal experience in which the viewer can lose track of the fact the film is an animation. The opening scene makes it clear that this is a film like few others. The scene is a dreamscape in awesome yellow and black tones, were 26 ferocious dogs charge through the street in search of the soldier that slaughtered them. Throughout the film, reality becomes distorted and at times one is sure that real life film crept into the rotoscope scenes.
The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 was a horrific conflict, which caused great hatred and scaring in Lebanon. However the film focuses solely on Folman and his comrades, and their life in Lebanon, as well their brief time on leave in Israel. The film portrays the soldiers as pawns, without knowledge or power over what they were doing. The leadership is portrayed as detached, glutinous and cynical. While these may seem like common themes for a war film, the film deals with them subtly. One does not end up sympathising with the soldiers, but merely follows them along on their journey.
As for the Arab participants, the film views them as the Israeli soldiers did. From the Lebanese watching an ambush of Israelis from their balconies, to the Christian fascists cutting crosses into their assault rifles, the Lebanese are shown as dehumanised bystanders. Such dehumanisation is the mainstay of Hollywood, and it is sad that Folman engages in such practices. Nonetheless the film is an amazing achievement, both in its sumptuous imagery and powerful insights. While at times the film seems to move quite slowly, its surreal style draws you further into its disturbing reality, and smashes you speechless with its final message. Waltz with Bashir is a film that will stay in your head long after you leave the theater.

By Sam Campbell

The Dark Knight

 With a POW! Reminiscent of the old Adam West days, Batman; The Dark Knight hit cinemas recently.
The plot seems simple enough to start with: crazed lunatics running about Gotham city, a shady deal done to catch a mob boss, and a plot to kill Batman himself. It rapidly then falls into a twisting maze, punctuated by enough explosions and stunts to satisfy the most bloodthirsty.
Compared to other movies of the superhero genre, The Dark Knight is a complex film.
Firstly, we have the character of the Joker, played by the late, great Heath Ledger.
It’s thrilling because the villain, the Joker, is more of a destructive force than a character, which is summed up in the film as: “Some men just want to see the world burn”.
He is obviously a fictional version of terrorists and reinforces the idea that terrorism has no serious motive other than destruction.
The question is, however in Batman’s response to such an “immoveable object”. Batman is a vigilante, and as such places himself above the people he protects. He stops short of becoming a Judge Dread-type character merely by the fact that he won’t kill.
He doesn’t trust the people, and this is the key flaw in the character from a critical perspective.
In the penultimate scene, where the Joker has rigged bombs on two ships, and the only way to stop both blowing up is to blow up one of them, one cannot help but feel that Batman expects people to act as the Joker would have them.
Thus, as a friend of mine said, woe betide Gotham City when Batman is the hero they need, because that’s the day when they will have no freedoms left.
By James Gluck