Waltz with Bashir (film)

Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary film by Israeli film director Ari Folman. In the film, Folman tries to reclaim his understanding and memories of his military service during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, including the three-day massacre of mostly Shia refugees in Beirut. The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where it won its highest honor, the Palme d'Or. The film was released in Israel on June 12, 2008, and in the United States on December 25, 2008. It was nominated for multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the year. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The Israeli Film Academy bestowed six awards, including Best Film and Best Director, on the movie.

Background

The State of Israel, which was founded in 1948, has experienced a great deal of conflict throughout its history. It has engaged in wars and battles with its Arab neighbors and the Palestinian people within its borders. In the twenty-first century, these conflicts continue.

According to biblical lore, the ancient Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt for centuries. They later settled in Canaan, which is roughly the area where Israel is found in modern times. About 931 Before the Common Era (BCE), the area was divided into the kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. About two centuries later, the Hebrew territories were the focus of multiple attacks. The Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom about 722 BCE and destroyed it. The Babylonians conquered the city of Jerusalem in 568 BCE. The area came under repeated attack over the next two millennia, with attacks by Arabs, Crusaders, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and many others. Israel was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, which controlled a large part of the Middle East, from 1517 Common Era to 1917. Great Britain was involved in politics and warfare in the Middle East during World War I (1914–1918). British support for a Jewish state enraged many Arabs, who also claimed many historic locations in Jerusalem as holy sites. After the Allies’ victory, Great Britain controlled the region then known as Palestine, which includes the modern states of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.

As a result of the movement known as Zionism, which advocated for a Jewish nation-state in the Middle East, about thirty-five thousand Jews relocated to Palestine between 1882 and 1903. From 1904 to 1914, another forty thousand settlers arrived. Emigration from across Europe increased during the lead-up to World War II, when many European Jews fled persecution by Nazi Germany. After the war ended in 1945, many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and other Jewish war refugees also moved to Palestine. As the number of Jewish settlers in the area increased and calls for an independent nation in the region grew, Israel gained independence in 1947.

The Arab nations rejected a United Nations plan to divide Palestine into two states—one Jewish and one Arab—in 1947. The following year, after elections in Israel, five Arab nations invaded, initiating the first Arab-Israeli War. Fighting continued on and off during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the Israelis winning many key victories and expanding the territory under their control. After the US-led Camp David Accords paved the way for normalized relations, Israel and Egypt negotiated and signed a peace treaty in 1979, ending three decades of conflict.

Members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had been working to create a Palestinian state independent from Israel, took refuge in Jordan. After the king of Jordan expelled them, they relocated to Lebanon and continued to launch attacks on Israel.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and drove out the PLO. Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel, an Israeli ally, was assassinated by a Syrian national. Israel’s defense minister and later prime minister, Ariel Sharon, ordered troops to surround the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. The next day, apparently in retaliation for Gemayel’s assassination, Lebanese Christian fighters working with the Israelis attacked the civilians. The Israeli Army did not intervene. After three days of brutality, hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese refugees were dead. Most were Shia women, children, and the elderly. Estimates of the number massacred range from 700 to 3,500.

Overview

Most Israeli Jews, male and female, must serve in the military when they turn eighteen. Males serve thirty-two months, and females serve twenty-four months. Ari Folman was a nineteen-year-old soldier in the Israeli Army in 1982 and was serving in Beirut when the massacres at Sabra and Shatila took place. His military career as a soldier and later reservist lasted twenty-two years. When he was released from his obligation to serve a month every year, he was required to speak with an army therapist. As he began to talk about the Lebanon War of 1982, he realized he had never talked about it with anyone and had repressed many of his memories.

Waltz with Bashir documents Folman’s efforts to fill in some of the gaps. He visits former comrades and interviews them about what they remember. Folman uses animation to depict these memories as well as possibilities and hallucinations. Often, these first-hand accounts contradict one another and possibly the facts. The documentary raises many questions but provides few answers; the information is not necessarily accurate, and motivations and knowledge of military leaders can only be surmised.

The film opens with one of Folman’s friends describing a recurring nightmare. It goes on to explore who knew or suspected what was happening in the refugee camps, including the moment when Folman, the soldier, realized why women were running from the camps screaming. Some of the animation directly reflects the footage Folman made while interviewing his subjects. The film ends with authentic documentary footage taken in the camps after the massacre.

The title refers to an episode on a street in Beirut where the walls are covered in posters of the late President Gemayel. An Israeli soldier goes on a rampage, shooting all around, an action that is described as waltzing with Bashir.

Waltz with Bashir was named the best film of the year by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. Folman was recognized by the Academy as best director and took home the so-called Israeli Oscar for best screenplay. Nili Peler won for best editing, David Polonsky took the Best Art Direction Award, and Aviv Aldema won the award for Best Sound. The film and director also won the National Film Award of France, the César Award, for best foreign film; the Directors Guild of America Award for outstanding directorial achievement in documentary film; the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay; and numerous film festival and critics’ awards around the globe. It remains on a multitude of lists of the best films of 2008.

In the twenty-first century, critics continue to laud Folman for his honesty and willingness to look objectively at his own role in crimes against humanity. Walking with Bashir is also criticized by critics as capitalizing on these atrocities. Many Arab nations, including Lebanon, continue to ban the film. With the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023, cultural touchpoints like Walking with Bashir remain vital in understanding the past conflicts within the region, recognizing the long-standing differences amongst its residents, and reminding all combatants to avoid the crimes against humanity referenced in the film.

Bibliography

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Sevencan, Seda. “1982 Beirut Massacre Still Haunts Survivors.” Anadolu Agency, 16 Sept. 2020, www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/1982-beirut-massacre-still-haunts-survivors/1975532. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021.

“Waltz with Bashir (2008).” Internet Movie Database, 2010, www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616. Accessed 15 May 2024.

“What's the Israel-Palestinian Conflict about and How Did It Start?” Reuters, 30 Oct. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/whats-israel-palestinian-conflict-about-how-did-it-start-2023-10-30. Accessed 15 May 2024.

Zahed, Ramin. “Cartoon Movie: Ari Folman Reveals New Details of ‘Where Is Anne Frank?’” Animation Magazine, 7 Mar. 2019, www.animationmagazine.net/features/cartoon-movie-ari-folman-reveals-new-details-of-where-is-anne-frank. Accessed 15 May 2024.