Waltz with Bashir
Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company
117 pages color $18.00
Writer- Ari Folman Artist- David Polonsky
In 1982 Ari Folman was an Israeli soldier in occupied Beirut. While Israeli soldiers secured the area Christian militia members entered the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila and massacred hundreds of civilians over a period of days. For more than twenty years he remembered nothing of that time, or the weeks leading up to it. In trying to piece together what happened to him he finds a sort of collective amnesia among his fellow soldiers. He slowly remembers images, scenes, dreams and hallucinations before putting together the whole story.
Waltz with Bashir is a graphic novel adapted from an Academy Award nominated animated film. The panels of the graphic novel are made up from artwork taken directly from the film. This technique, adapting screen shots and arranging them as comics pages, is for the most part disastrous. Books done in this fashion are often clunky and awkward; neither one thing nor another. So why does this book break all the rules and make for such a satisfying graphic novel experience?
The film is basically a graphic novel that moves. David Polonsky is the chief illustrator for the movie. The animation is limited, but don't take that as a criticism. By limiting the amount of movement on the screen the movie is able to retain the individual style of the artist. Because of this approach the artwork seems quite at home on the printed page. Clever (but not overdone) use of photographic images help to ground the work in the real world, but Polonsky makes brilliant use of comics techniques to blur the lines between reality and memory.
After all, that is what the story is all about. One man searches to recreate his memories of a traumatic time in his life. His journey is hampered by the fragile nature of memory itself, even for those not facing the violence and tragedy he experienced. The story moves from memory to dream and back again as he tries to piece together his own role in a massacre. The final images of the story are photographs, as both author and reader are forced to face a horrific reality.
Waltz with Bashir is a haunting and disturbing graphic novel. Rather than simply recounting a series of facts, the writer and artist draw us into the fractured memories and perceptions of those that experienced it. Our individual perceptions and memories seldom fit into nice, neat little boxes. This story shows us how history is only made up of individual people, people who can't see the whole picture. It makes us wonder about our own perceptions and recollections, as we try to make sense of our lives and experiences and viewpoints.
Waltz with Bashir is an experimental graphic novel, in both artwork and storytelling. The experiment is a wonderful success, both thoughtful and thought-provoking.
Take A Look Inside
Bill Love / Comic Related Columnist
Bill spent ten years in television production then ten years teaching production and journalism at the high school level. He has over a decade of comics retailing experience and has written, edited and done interviews for Sketch Magazine and other Blue Line Art publications. Together with Bob Hickey, Bill created Graphic Novel Scene to serve the library community as a selection tool in choosing graphic novels for their growing collections.
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