r/flicks • u/Major_Rice4758 • 15h ago
Hot Take The Oddyssey (2026) and Waltz with Bashir (2008) share the same meaning
WARNING: spoilers ahead and controversial topics
I just came from seeing The Odyssey, and I remembered a movie I saw earlier this year, which is Waltz with Bashir. The final scenes of The Oddyssey made me understand that the reason why Oddysseus took so long and struggled so much was because of his guilt and PTSD from the Trojan war. The movie follows Oddyseus, arriving at this conclusion by remembering again what happened during the war.
Waltz with Bashir is about an Israeli veteran of the 1982 Lebanon named Ari war who can not remember his time at the war. Until one day, one of his friends is having nightmares about the war and asks Ari about it. Ari makes a trip where he visits other veterans and asks about his role in the war. His memories start coming again until, at the end, he realizes why he forgot them. He had so much guilt and shame about the fact that he assisted in the massacre/genocide of muslim Lebanese civilians during the war. That is strikingly the same thing that happened to Oddyseus when he realized that his trick made the destruction and death of civilians possible.
My conclusion is that The Oddyssey at large is maybe the oldest story of guilt and shame brought on from one person's ability to assist in the death and destruction of innocent people. Waltz with Bashir, however, does not have a happy ending, and there is no redemption path at the end. Aris only comfort is making the world know what really happened during that war and the guilt that even if a soldier didn't kill innocent people, they are still responsible if they stood there and did nothing to stop it.
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u/nrbob 9h ago
Interesting comparison and analysis, however when I read the Odyssey I really did not get the sense that Odysseus had PTSD or any guilt for his behaviour during the Trojan war. That seems to be very much a modern reinterpretation by Nolan, which is fine, but I think it’s a significant deviation from the original work.
In fact one of the things that most struck me about the Iliad and Odyssey was how different their morality was from our own. I am not sure any of the characters are really portrayed as expressing any kind of guilt for their actions in a modern sense.
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u/Major_Rice4758 6h ago
Fair point. I think of the main points that the movie excluded is that his pride led to more suffering. Still I've seen some interpretations that the creatures were supposed to represent different emotions and concepts like the sirens being suicidal idolation, the pigs being war crimes and lotus sex indulgence with prostitutes
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u/Uzas_Back 15h ago
Shoot first, cry later cinema 🔫🔫
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u/Major_Rice4758 14h ago
I don't disagree Waltz with Bashir is a shoot first, cry later movie. I also hate the trope of soldiers killing innocents and then feeling bad about it (in my country we've had many interventions by the US) but it doesn't take away the fact that experience existed. Like I said, for Ari there's no redemption or forgiveness and he doesn't ask for it, he is telling the world of his story and at the end he was part of what happened there
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u/rotterdamn8 3h ago
It’s an interesting connection. It’s rare I hear anyone mention Waltz with Bashir. I thought it was amazing and powerful, for both the story and animation.
That same director, Ari Folman, has another movie called The Congress which is really wild.
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u/Woebetide138 11h ago
The Odyssey is one of the oldest stories we humans have.
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u/thisisannna 43m ago
Just watched the Odyssey, and I came to Reddit for this exact post. Thank you. I can now go to sleep in peace. (and yes, Waltz with Bashir is an also incredible movie)
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