Vals Im
Bashir is
a foreign language film which follows the storyline of a 19-year old
Israeli infantry soldier during the 1982 war in Lebanon.
The film is an
animated autobiography of the director Ari
Folman, who served in the Israeli armed forces as a young adult.
Despite the film being animated, it still captivates the viewer just as much as an
organic film.
Synopsis
Vals Im Bashir depicts the main character searching through his forgotten memories later on in life as a forty-three year old man. The viewer watches him as he attempts to remember the horrors he experienced long ago.
The film does an excellent job focusing on the reality of war and the dehumanization of Muslims in the Middle East.
Even though the film is told by a former Israeli soldier, the film focuses on the brutal nature of the Israeli occupation of the Middle East.
The audience travels back in time through the memories of Ari Folman to show how much conflict and unneeded bloodshed took place against the Lebanese.
The graphic scenes of The Sabra and Shatila massacre vividly show the realities of war and the real-life consequences many Arab families had to live through, and for many still struggle with today.
Important Themes
Many people are not even aware of the 1982 war.
Much of that has to do with the little media attention the war received in the West and the little education people here receive about history.
To many, war in the Middle East is nothing new to them. This is an important theme which is still prevalent in today's society. There is almost a popularized stigma associated with the Middle East with conflicts that effect Arab and Muslim populations.
"That's
how life is there" or "That's how it's always been" are statements typically heard when conflict ensues. But when the roles are
reversed everything changes.
Cries for blood lust are seen as justified by the majority of white people in the West. Vals Im Bashir does a tremendously great job making reference to this double standard and poses the question to the viewer of "What's so different between you and I?"
The film forces the viewer to look into things rather than accepting what you are told. It teaches you that not everything is easy to digest. That it is important to face your demons and to accept the realities of what your actions and decisions have on others.
Cries for blood lust are seen as justified by the majority of white people in the West. Vals Im Bashir does a tremendously great job making reference to this double standard and poses the question to the viewer of "What's so different between you and I?"
The film forces the viewer to look into things rather than accepting what you are told. It teaches you that not everything is easy to digest. That it is important to face your demons and to accept the realities of what your actions and decisions have on others.
There is truth in this film. As iterated through the Israeli main character coming to terms with his memories along with his own disbelief when he realizes what he did in the past. Mirroring the disbelief the Israeli government holds towards their actions.
To this day the Israeli government has never condemned their hellish actions, stating that the massacre was necessary and unavoidable.
To this day the Israeli government has never condemned their hellish actions, stating that the massacre was necessary and unavoidable.
Conclusion
As a whole I enjoyed the realism the film held.
Vals Im Bashir really struck a cord with me. For a film based on the topic of war to be produced with so much brutal honesty, it's a beautiful thing.
Vals Im Bashir is a film that understandably packs a punch. It is an example of a film that touches on a bloody period of world history, speaking to the marginalization and injustice seen in the Middle East carried out by the state of Israel.
Despite it being an animated film, it impresses with it's imagrey and realism.
