waltz with bashir

I watched Waltz with Bashir last night; a truly exceptional film. It sounds cliched, but is nevertheless true: I wish that I could make every policymaker and every general watch this film. It's animated; but it is nothing like any cartoon or graphic movie one has ever watched; the colours, mood and etchings in the picturization are remarkable; as is the story, the music, the narrative and the flights of fantasy. One particularly haunting image remains; that of the dead soldiers in the water, opening their eyes, coming alive, walking out of the water naked, to the shore, putting on their clothes and walking back into the town and into their lives. It is a fantastical interlude, but truly exceptional. And the last haunting truth; I won't spoil it for people who have not watched it, but exceptional. It shows the massacres happening, and more than actual footage, the cartoon feature at this point is astounding.

As for the politics of the film; I am leaving aside the politics for the pundits to argue; whether the Israeli Defense Forces were accurately portrayed, whether it lets the Christian Phalangists off too easy, or the Palestinians; honestly it doesn't matter who the fuck is right, when all these people have died.