Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Devestating review of "Waltz with Bashir"

[The Reviewer does not mention another shortcoming of the film, the Orientalist portrayal  (or lack of) of the Arab character as a blob ,  a background as something so insignificant it is not worth individualizing or even mentioning]

By Gideon Levy 
Znet

However, it must also be noted that the film is infuriating, disturbing, outrageous and deceptive. It deserves an Oscar for the illustrations and animation - but a badge of shame for its message. It was not by accident that when he won the Golden Globe, Folman didn't even mention the war in Gaza, which was raging as he accepted the prestigious award. The images coming out of Gaza that day looked remarkably like those in Folman's film. But he was silent. So before we sing Folman's praises, which will of course be praise for us all, we would do well to remember that this is not an antiwar film, nor even a critical work about Israel as militarist and occupier. It is an act of fraud and deceit, intended to allow us to pat ourselves on the back, to tell us and the world how lovely we are.

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