Waltz with Bashir!

I agree with many other people in class in saying that is was probably the best movie we have seen so far, and an awesome one to end on! I feel like even if the movie was terrible I would have still been amazed, because it is not only a true story about Ari Folman's experience during the 1982 Lebanon War, but he is also directed, produced, and starred in it! Most of the people in the movie were playing themselves as well.

After doing some research on the movie, I learned that it took four years to make, which shows how much dedication the film took to make. Also, I thought that the movie was made by drawing over the animation, such as in the movies Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, but actually it was made on a sound stage, then a storyboard was laid out and the animation was done using several different techniques.

I also learned that the perceptions of the film varied greatly person to person and country to country. What I found particularly interesting was that it was so well received in the US, but banned in Europe and at times not well received in Israel. One Israeli newspaper said that it was "stylish, sophisticated, gifted, and tasteful - but propaganda" because it didn't come right out and say that the Israeli Defense Forces were wrong in their actions. Conversely, others complained that it was anti-semitic because at one point a character compares the SS to the IDF's actions during the massacre.

Although I may not know as much about Israel and it's many issues as some of the people who have reviewed the movie, I thought that Folman's portrayal was very good. For one, it is through the eyes of a soldier. Soldiers are not supposed to form judgements about what they are doing, they are supposed to obey orders and do their job. Obviously what happened was very traumatic for him, or else he wouldn't have lost his memories of it. Also, I am sure the soldiers fighting beside him were his friends, why would they be betrayed as terrible people? Like him they were there because it was a requirement of them. I thought it took courage to make a movie about his own life, and to not portray anyone as perfect.

Iraq/n?

I noticed while reading everyone's blogs that a few people called it an Iraqi movie. I don't know if this is just a spelling mistake, or just a miscommunication, or if they confused the two, but I thought it was important to clear up the differences. Although Iraq and Iran are both located in the Middle East, share a border that is 900 miles long, and are often on the nightly news here in the US, they couldn't be more different. Some examples:

Iran is about four times as big as Iraq, about 636,372 square miles (18th in the world) vs 169,234 square miles (58th). Iran has about 74 million people, vs Iraq with 31 million. The GDP for Iran is also much higher, about $11,000 vs $2000 per capita.

Iran's population is very diverse, with Persians making up about half the population, Azeris about a quarter, and dozens of others comprising the rest. Only 3% of the population is Arabic. Iraq's population is over 75% Arabic, 20% Kurdish, and a small amount of other groups comprising the rest of the population.

Iran is officially a Muslim country, and Twelver Shi'a is the state religion, with 89% of the population. However, 9% are Sunni, and the rest of the minority population are Hindus, Jews, Christians, and other religions. However, the largest minority, Bahais, face persecution since the 1979 revolution, and have been denied access to jobs, education, and even executed. Iraq is about 60-65% Shi'a, 35% Sunni, and 3% Christian and other religions., which has dropped since the mid-20th century.

Perhaps the most important difference is in government. Iran is led by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is in charge of the military, police, state-run television, and judiciary system. Below him is the President, who is elected by the people, and is in charge of executive decisions not given to the Supreme Leader. The Iraqi government is supposed to be an "Islamic, democratic, federal parlimentary republic" according to it's constitution, with 18 regions, called governorates. But with the current war it is hard to know what is the actual status of Iraq and it's regions. Kurdistan is the only region with it's own government and militia.

So there you go! A few facts about Iraq and Iran, but there are many many more!! :D