I’ve actually watched this film about 4 times now but for some reason I’ve never really talked about it. I think it’s one of those films that was simply never intended for mainstream recognition, nor was it ever a film I wanted to read about much – it’s just one of those jewels we want to selfishly keep to ourselves by not telling the world how amazing the movie is. The film follows the retrospective deliberations of ex-Israeli soldier, Ari Folman, who has recently been reminded by an old colleague of their involvement in the 1982 Lebanon War. It is only after this brief reminder that Ari realises he has no recollection of his involvement in the war and is suddenly privy to a number of flashbacks that relate to very little he can remember. So starts his journey of memory provocation as he visits friends, colleagues and those unknown who played a part in the war. it isn’t until some recollection that he appears to have created a mental blackout within himself of the Sabra Masacres. As he delves deeper into his own subconscious, he begins to put together his mental jigsaw puzzle to eventually lead him to his epiphany of epic proportion in a recollection of events that even now has me shiver in despair. There are so many facets of this movie that are exceptional I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start from the obvious – the visuals.

It uses some very clever techniques that are a combination of Adobe Flash cutouts with classic animation, but the results are simply extraordinary. I’ve never seen animation, in the general sense, portray so much life in both character and surroundings. It’s a stark contrast as the film tackles some very heavy issues, from genocide in war, to mental degradation and psychological breakdowns. It’s moody, gritty and quite violent in places. There is no glory here, apart from attempting, successful, to recite mans folly in war especially when young of age – the attraction of war is a toffee apple and we are presented this by bright visuals and dynamic lighting effects that appear to be polish to a rusty collection of ill-fitting gears and cogs underneath. Secondly, I have to applaud the soundtrack. It’s a combination of orchestral, moody, middle eastern tempo and alternating 80’s and techno music. It’s always, perfectly placed with the action, or anti, on screen and does so much to heighten the importance of the scenes that ultimately unfold to its grizzly ending.

There’s also the dialogue. I’m a fan of world cinema, but the visuals are so breathtaking, especially in Bluray, that you simply do not want to tear your eyes off the delicious sights to read the subtitles. Regardless, I’m glad of the sub titles as the dialogue is brilliant – I’m familiar with the ‘sound’ of hebrew as I live in an area rich with Jewish inhabitants and often it can come across as a little coarse and guttural, but somehow there’s a milky smoothness about the words batted between friend and gun partners. I found myself drawn into the intricately delivered facial expressions, the hand gestures and the odd shoulder shrug that so typically defines human reaction – something that is rarely conveyed so well in film, let alone animated.

As a historical lesson, those in the know claim it to be an incorrect portrayal of events. However, I felt it to be a heartbreaking tragic reenactment of a massacre of Muslim inhabitants in a film made my Jewish Israelis. If anything, it prompted me to do further research and establish some more facts on an incident I’d previously never heard of and I’d like to congratulate the film makers on such an astonishingly good achievement.