Purely Positive Film Review: Waltz With Bashir

I can think of few feats more astonishing for a modern motion picture than consistent apathy felt towards all of the main characters throughout the entirety of the movie only to end with a contradictory single-tear streaming down my gritty, unshaven face, yet Waltz with Bashir masterfully achieved this very goal. The movie follows Ari Follman's journey into his own shell-shock ridden psyche as he pieces together the horrid past that he had so effectively walled off from the forefront of his mind. The format is a sort of stylish animation set over real people that allows the author to float in and out of dream sequences and memories in a seemless pattern that would otherwise be impossible without Michael Bay level funding. Being, as a good american, that I am totally ignorant about the wars that he was depicting, I had little context for the conflicts and didn't really care for Ari and yet, the violence mixed with the veracity of the film struck me like running through a thick layer of fog at full speed only to quickly find a brick wall with your nose. The traumatic finish of the film left me feeling like I too was now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is not exactly what one hopes for in an entertainment experience. That being said, I vowed to read not only websites but whole books on the conflict upon my finishing the movie. Hardened in my resolve, I immediately did nothing and forgot about the movie altogether until I saw that I was intending to write this review. That particular goal of the film having failed, at least I did come away from the movie, and still feel, traumatized by the event of the movie much in the same way that the director must have felt traumatized by the events he so desparately wanted to remember. That kind of empathy is rarely seen, and although not enjoyable for me, at least I now share Ari's pain--jerk.