FILM REVIEW: WALTZ WITH BASHIR.

This is cram weekend for procrastinating film buffs. The Oscars will air in less than 48 hours and chances are pretty good that you—like the rest of us—have not seen every film nominated for a major award. Instead of trying to get the last seat for a screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, we'd like to recommend Waltz With Bashir, Israel's submission for Best Foreign Language Film.

Waltz With Bashir portrays director Ari Folman's attempt to retrieve the lost memory of his involvement in the August, 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees by a Christian Phalangist militia in Lebanon. A 2006 conversation with a fellow veteran sparks the realization that he has no idea what he saw or did during that time, so he interviews fellow soldiers, friends, and a therapist or two (Folman was one of the writers for the original Israeli series that inspired HBO's In Treatment). The vivid yet curiously stiff animation—much of it Flash animation, like you would find in cheap internet skits—adds to the feeling of disembodiment that is often associated with both memory and war. This works in the film's favor; the interview subjects are consistently—at times unnervingly—level-headed when describing their time on the battlefield, befitting a nation that has always been at war and a generation whose parents were largely born in ghettos and concentration camps. Unlike most American films, the narrative convention of war-time loss of innocence is subtext here. The horror we see is no less real for its flat presentation. It's just horror that seems to comes as little surprise to the people involved.

That changes at the end of Waltz With Bashir, when stories of military life lead to the massacre itself and, eventually, to footage of Palestinians wailing in the streets as they search the rubble for their dead. The film takes a bracing turn in its final minutes that is entirely fitting to both the story and the theme of trying to remember what was once blocked. Some people have accused Waltz With Bashir of being anti-Israel because of this ending, but politics are largely left out of the picture. What we are shown are the memories of soldiers who live with the repercussions of having followed orders—in this case to not interfere while Christian Lebanese massacred Muslim Palestinians. Following orders is what soldiers are trained to do, no matter which country they invade or defend. For many of us, the prospect of following morally repellent orders is reason enough to not become a soldier in the first place. But conscription is mandatory in Israel, which is just one of many things that make's this country such a fascinating subject of political, moral, and sociological debate—one with more sides to it than the mainstream news media might lead us to believe.

Those who want a bit more historical context before seeing Waltz with Bashir should click here. And those of you who want to see a powerful, unique look at war and its effects on the participants should see this film before the Oscars air. Rooting for a deserving film to win its award is a kind of taking sides that seems all the more comforting after seeing the kind of choices people have to make in a nation that—for good reasons or bad—is always at war.

Waltz With Bashir
11:15, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, 10:10
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
143 East Houston Street
212.330.8182