Review of 'Waltz with Bashir'

I quite enjoyed the movie Waltz with Bashir. It is based upon the 1982 Lebanon War, which I am not too familiar with. Despite this, the movie was not too hard to follow. I enjoyed the main character’s story of regaining his memories as well as the depictions of war in the film. I think there was a good mix of both. There are several things that I like about the movie. I wonder if there is a graphic novel form of it, and if it is in Hebrew and English.

One particularly interesting aspect of the movie is the psychological issues the main character faces. As a Psychology major, it was interesting for me to see how the character was affected by war. There is a bit of repressed memory as well as dissociation that occur as a result of the traumatizing massacre. I find it interesting that as the story progresses, and the character speaks with former comrades, his memory resurfaces bit by bit. It makes me want to do a little research on the topic of war trauma and psychology.

Another thing that I like is that the film is retained in Hebrew. I don’t find it annoying to have to read subtitles and this makes the film more realistic. Obviously Israelis would not be speaking English. In addition to this, I enjoyed the artwork of the film. It is amazing how realistic the movements of the characters are. This shows the artist’s attention to detail, also boosting credibility in a narrative such as this.