MovieChat Forums > The Green Wave (2011) Discussion > Election footage = incredible. Animation...

Election footage = incredible. Animation sequences = distracting

posted 13 years ago by IceboxMovies
1 reply | jump to latest

All of the footage in this film of the actual election is fascinating, but the movie is less successful during the animated sequences that cover certain events that were never captured on camera--while the animation itself has an intriguing comic-book vibrance, it feels like something out of a different movie.

I got to see this movie at Sundance, and during the Q & A, director Ali Samadi Ahadi gave an impassioned speech about his strong detestment for Ahmadinejad's rule, as well as his hope that someday there will be widespread democracy in the Middle East. He also elaborated on the sacrifices that came with making the film, and how he knew that he would never be able to return to his family in Iran once the film was finished. After the arrests of filmmakers Maziar Bahari and Jafar Panahi, how could he?

"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."

[–] gortx 12 years ago

I understand the reluctance of many to the idea of animation in a documentary. Though it wasn't strictly a documentary, WALTZ WITH BASHIR also used animation to tell a political tale.
Part of the issue here is that it is virtually impossible to get present-day residents of Iran on camera criticizing the regime. And, you can't just roam around the streets of the country filming delicate places such as police stations, prisons and other government offices to provide background footage to the stories told in the film.
I admit to being a fan of the flowing rotoscope look used here (WALKING LIFE, WALTZ WITH BASHIR). But, besides opening up the film from a stream of talking heads and often grainy stock footage, the animation serves as an almost ghostly ethereal presence. It's as if the viewer is floating above the country dipping in to see things the government wouldn't allow to be seen.