250 likes | 406 Views
Waltz With Bashir. History and Memory. Like Persepolis , Waltz With Bashir aims to explore a national narrative However, Waltz With Bashir accomplishes this exploration through memory Ari ’ s personal memories are intertwined with a traumatic memory in Israeli history
E N D
History and Memory • Like Persepolis, Waltz With Bashir aims to explore a national narrative • However, Waltz With Bashir accomplishes this exploration through memory • Ari’s personal memories are intertwined with a traumatic memory in Israeli history • Ari’s quest to restore his memories coincides with the desire to restore relevancy to the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila camps
Let’s consider the opening scene... • Before a dog is shown, the first shot of the film cues us to the fact that something is not quite right with this scene • The only colour in the scene is found in the yellow sky, creating a world that exists between full colour, and black and white. • We are provided with a very tight, low-angle establishing shot, when the typical establishing shot would be wide, high-angle shot • The camera pulls out, whereas in most establishing shots, the camera would push in
Let’s consider the opening scene... • The surreal nature of the opening shot is punctuated by the pack of dogs racing through the street • We are meant to find this scene disturbing because it somehow defies our expectations of reality • It is only when the scene ends that we realize we have witnessed a dream
Dreams and Memory • The first two scenes establish a link between dream and memory • Boaz shot 26 dogs in Lebanon and it is the same 26 dogs that haunt him in his dreams • Recall that Ori, the therapist, explains to Ari that dreams are directly related to memory
Recall the other dreams • These scenes are visually similar to the opening • These dreams relate to a traumatic memory • Carmi’s experience on the boat, Ari’s experience at the massacre • This is one way in which the film explores the theme of mediation
Mediated History • Waltz With Bashir uses mediation in order to consider the slippery nature of memory and history • As dreams bleed into memories, fiction bleeds into fact, and we are not sure where one ends and the other begins
Mediated History and Memory • The dreams are not the only example repressed memory in the film • Ari explains how he repressed the memory of the airport the moment when he first entered it, imagining a place full of opportunity and a chance to escape • The truth is that he cannot escape his place in history • Our minds modify our memory in order to construct narratives that we are comfortable with
Mediated History and Memory • The “literal” waltz in the film is a memory that has become legend over time • The film mythologizes the Waltz through the use of music and composition, putting into question what is real and what is fiction
Mediated History and Colour • The film uses colour to represent the tenuous grip that Ari has on history • The more he remembers, the more colour returns to his reminiscences
Mediated History and Form • In the film, Ari is always close to the truth of his memory/history but it is always out of reach • The mediated nature of the dream creates suspense, because we learn Ari’s role in the massacre at the same time that he does • It’s only when he is able to move past the mediation that the truth is revealed • A similar revelation happens to the audience at the end of the film
Mediated History and Scene • The film also uses subtle visual cues to indicate the slippery nature of history • Note the background in these two shots
Mediated History and Photography • The film also considers the difficulty of capturing memory • Photographs are a common motif found in the film
Mediated History and Photography • But photographs often fail to capture history accurately or in its entirety • Ari doesn’t recognize himself in the photo • The film also shows us failed attempts to capture history/memory
Mediated History and Reification • This is the “figurative” waltz with Bashir, as the Israelis are complicit by choosing to align themselves with him in Lebanon • The film explores the consequences of turning a man into a symbol • Pictures of Bashir are an oppressive force in the film, and his death is used as justification for the massacres • The truth of Bashir is lost to the propaganda of the mediated images
Mediated History and Medium • Ari Folman shot and edited together a cut of the film with interview footage and re-enactments • That film was then used as reference material for the animators (not rotoscoped!)
Mediated History and Medium • Folman wanted to produce an animated documentary because it allowed him to recreate moments of war that wouldn’t have been possible in a traditional documentary • But the fact that it is animated puts into question the verisimilitude of the documentary • How much of the narrative is invented in service of the documentary?
Mediated History and Medium • The film itself reminds us that film is a mediated experience • The PTSD therapist talks about a patient who viewed the war through a lens in order to cope with the horrors of war
Mediated History and Medium • Televisions are shown to be mediated experiences that can be manipulated • The time lapsed scene when Ari returns home • The mediated experience points to the difficulty of assimilating back into society • The officer who orders Ari to fast forward through the video
Mediated History and Medium • Ari’s experience as a tank commander is reduced to a video game
Mediated History and Medium • The end of the film removes a layer of mediation and gives us real reactions to the massacre • We enter the film through a dream and by the end of the film, we “wake up” and are forced to face the harsh reality with Ari • It is a reminder that this was a real event and takes us out of the comfort zone that mediation provides • Also, note how the colours at the end have reversed (from the opening and from Ari’s dream) – yellow becomes the dominant colour as Ari recovers his memory of the event
Conclusions • Waltz With Bashir is partly autobiographical, but is more focused on exploring the massacre at Sabra and Shatila • The film wants us to consider how our memories are mediated • And as our memories are mediated, so is history itself • It’s only when we peel back the layers of mediation can we see the truth of history
Comparisons • Waltz With Bashir pairs well thematically with Redacted as war films that want you to consider how you experience war • The Hurt Locker and Green Zone treat the experience of war from the opposite direction • Both films yearn to reproduce reality and try their best not to remind you of a mediated experience by focusing strictly on naturalistic film techniques