“As Long As You Are Drawing and Not Filming, It’s OK”

Ethics and Accountability in Waltz with Bashir

Abstract

The essay offers a detailed analysis of Ari Folman's animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008), arguing that the film's therapeutic aims are best understood as involving unresolved feelings of guilt and accountability which have haunted the Israeli psyche over the past two decades. The representation of Israeli soldiers during the First Lebanon War as "innocent children", naive victims of circumstances, is a direct response to the severe allegations pointed towards Israel and the Israeli army following the violent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the second Intifada. The article also discusses the ethical aspects of animated documentary and the ways in which animation helps Folman cope with his traumatic experiences. Following the writings of Hannah Arendt, Jacques Derrida and Carl Jaspers, the article examines the film’s rhetoric vis-à-vis the question of accountability. Despite its radical aesthetics, the film conforms to the "discourse of victimhood" which has dominated Zionist thought, preventing the film and its protagonist from taking full accountability for the actions in question. The essay concludes with an inquiry into the rhetoric of repentance and forgiveness in Udi Aloni's radical film Forgiveness (2006)