Narrative Structure

This chapter is concerned with the narrative structure of Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir. It reflects on the differences between Waltz with Bashir's story and plot, as defined by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson in their seminal text Film Art: An Introduction and looks at how information is revealed to the audience. It also looks at the ten animated interview scenes ordered around in Waltz with Bashir, which allegedly took place in 2006 and are carried out as part of an investigation to help the film's narrator-protagonist to overcome his amnesia about his role during the First Lebanon War. The chapter analyzes Waltz with Bashir's final scene that uses live news footage of the Sabra and Shatila camps and appears to mark the moment when the protagonist is hit by the full emotional force of his memories. It talks about the juxtaposition of live footage with total recall that suggests that Waltz with Bashir moves from unreliable or 'false' memory to 'real' truth.

Waltz with Bashir and Meditations on War

This chapter considers Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir within the broader context of non-animated and animated war films, such as Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Mori Masaki's Barefoot Gen, Jimmy Murakami's When the Wind Blows, and Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies. It looks briefly at five other Israel films that deal with the subject of Lebanon: Eli Cohen's Ricochets, Haim Bouzaglo's Cherry Season, Eran Rikli's Cup Final, Joseph Cedar's Beaufort, and Samuel Maoz's Lebanon. It examines how the Israel films use more conventional modes of narrative fiction filmmaking rather than animation or documentary. The chapter looks at the intertexts that allow Waltz with Bashir to be both specific and general as it reflects upon the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres. It provides indirect views on other episodes of the twentieth century, such as events in Vietnam, Hiroshima, Korea, and the Holocaust.

Ari Folman’s Other War

This chapter looks at Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir within the context of the Holocaust. It recounts the 1980s and 1990s that marked the emergence of second-generation Israeli cinema that was specifically produced by the children of Holocaust survivors. It also reviews the second-generation Israel films that address the subject of war and critique the Zionist project, which intimates that it had simply replaced the trauma of the Holocaust with a new and different kind of Israeli trauma. It also mentions Ari Folman, a child of survivors, who began making films during the period of second-generation Israeli cinema. The chapter describes Waltz with Bashir as an example of second-generation film-making and as a film that explicitly deals with Lebanon, but implicitly engages with events of the Second World War. It analyzes the function of the Holocaust in greater detail within the context of Israeli cinema of the early millennium and the cinema of second-generation film-makers.

Waltz with Bashir’s Reception in Israel and Abroad

This chapter looks at primary sources, such as newspapers and magazines, to discuss the reception of Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir. It considers some of the issues associated with world cinema and compares Folman's first three films: Saint Clara, Made in Israel and Waltz with Bashir. It also examines what stood out in Waltz with Bashir that made it so successful. The chapter discusses the media reception of Waltz with Bashir that was fairly emotional and highlights how the film ruffled many feathers and pushed several buttons. It mentions critics that either gushed about Folman's bravery or were indignant about his hypocrisy.

Waltz with Bashir: Why Does it Matter?

This chapter recounts the most horrific episodes in the history of the Middle East conflict. It talks about the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by members of the Islamist militant group Hamas, followed by a brutal revenge attack that triggered a fifty-day war between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza. It also analyses the function and value of films, such as Ari Folman's animated documentary Waltz with Bashir and examines the yawning gap between global consciousness of Israeli politics and that of Israeli culture. The chapter points out how Waltz with Bashir struck a chord on the international art house scene and became a roaring success, winning a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film. It discusses the heart of why Waltz with Bashir was such a phenomenon and questions whether its is still as significant now as it was when it was first released in 2008.