THINQon : 3 Animated Movies - Wall E, Waltz with Bashir, and Persepolis

Cinema Room General 3 Animated Movies - Wall E, Waltz with Bashir, and Persepolis

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3 Animated Movies - Wall E, Waltz with Bashir, and Persepolis

Latest Post: March 2009

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I recently learned to appreciate animated movies. Thought I would write a post about the movies that made that happen.

Proper disclosure – I must admit that I used to refer to animated films as second-rate. Just like I used to think that Sci-Fi literature is inferior to "true" novels. I was skeptical that animated films could move me intellectually and emotionally. And although I saw quite a lot of animated films in the past, I found it hard to remember one that stood out distinctively. This changed after I saw the following three smart and sensitive films in a short time span.

First I saw Wall-E. From the first moment I was captivated by the optimistic and sympathetic robot who lives in a cruel world, yet finds love in a she-robot who is tough outside yet soft on the inside. It left me feeling hopeful about love, being more than what you hear or see.

Next I saw Waltz with Bashir. If you decide to see any of the three, choose this one, even though I don't remember when I've left a movie so stunned before. It tells a story of a shell-shock victim from the 1st Lebanon War, and precisely because it is animated it creates an artificial distance that enables it to penetrate through the viewer's defenses. While luckily I was never in a combat situation, I found myself asking fundamental questions, like how would I act in such extreme situations, and the answers were not always simple.

Last I saw Persepolis, which tells a beautiful story of the maturation of a young girl in Iran, revealing the Islamic Revolution and the war between light and darkness within it. The animation enables razor-sharp scenes full of symbolism and reveals a number of extensive parallel stories which are combined into one coherent and fascinating movie.

Sometimes, in order to learn to like something different, you have to get to know it in abundance. That's why I recommend to all those who steer away from animated films to go see these three, since the animation only helps to enrich them with deeper meanings.

Reply to:

Esther White

March 2009

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Hi,
I wanted to reply as I too was very surprised by how moving I found these two animated films (Waltz with Bashir and Persepolis; I haven't seen Wall-E). Waltz with Bashir in particular was amazing. I found it very beautiful how sharply the portraits were drawn, in just a few strokes -- to pick one at random, the scene where the hero is talking to his friend the shrink, and there is a child in the background throwing a large ball with both hands. I later learned that almost everyone was drawn from life, and indeed there is a trueness to life in the choice of just the right detail, a bit of stubble or a line of tiredness. I was surprised at the maturity and expressiveness of these very simple drawings.

Perhaps for this reason I wasn't thrilled with the ending. I liked the truth of the world which he had drawn and found myself immediately distrustful of "other" images. Of course, I can see why it was an important move.

Persepolis was wonderful but entirely different. The animation, coming as it does from a graphic novel, is much closer to the sorts of old cartoons we saw as kids, which are abstractions rather than portraits, and really give the feeling of a storyteller recounting a story (which was indeed the case). It's a life story in history, which even though it leads up to the present moment, provokes the kind of melancholy which comes from understanding complicated issues in the past and seeing someone's history. But it's less a commentary on the present moment. On the other hand the feeling of Waltz, which I'm sure was helped by the use of color and detail as well as the subject matter, was that of understanding something basic about the present -- I don't mean politically necessarily, but emotionally.

Also, especially in the case of Waltz with Bashir, I thought the soundtrack was extremely well done.