User reviews

Let's get one thing straight from the beginning: Waltz With Bashir is an animated documentary. It may sound like a paradox, but hey, when the film played at the Cannes Film Festival (which it left with rave reviews but zero awards) it was inevitably compared to Persepolis, which is an animated autobiography. The comparison was also caused by both movies having open anti-war messages, but they couldn't be more different in concept and execution. They do have one important thing in common, though: they are animated not because it looked good, but because it was the best artistic choice the directors could make.

In the case of Ari Folman, the choice was dictated by the unique angle from which he chose to tell the story: subjectivity. Folman, like many young Israeli men in the '80s, joined the army to fight in Lebanon when he was merely 18 (this was in 1982), thinking he could serve his country in the best way possible. Once the war was over, Folman's new career began, and he is now a successful actor, director and writer (among other things, he worked on the TV show that inspired HBO's In Treatment). However, he still wasn't able to completely get over the war experience, and so he decided to make Waltz With Bashir in order to exorcise his demons, so to speak. In doing so, he delivered one of the strongest, boldest documents about the true nature of conflict.

Folman's introspective journey begins with the lack of memory: apparently, he and many of his fellow soldiers have trouble remembering the exact details of what happened in Lebanon. All they have left is dreams, like the haunting nightmare that opens the movie (26 murderous dogs surrounding the apartment of a former soldier, who believes it to be a subconscious punishment for his killing 26 dogs during a mission) or Folman's eerie flashback of himself and his friends emerging from the water after a massacre he can't (or perhaps doesn't want to) remember. Engaging in a pursuit of the truth, the director locates several people with first-hand recollections of those events, and all these people (minus two) supply their own voices for their animated counterparts.

The stream of personal anecdotes and, as said earlier, dreams, made it impossible for Folman to show real footage of what he was trying to say. After all, how do you show a live-action dream sequence in a documentary without making it look corny? Hence the winning choice of rendering the whole story through animation, with just one exception (the final scene, the one that justifies the film's existence, consists of real filmed material). This gives the picture a feel that is both evocative and down-to-earth, a bizarre but powerful combination that has earned Waltz With Bashir comparisons with the similarly merciless Apocalypse Now. Like few other films about war (Folman has openly stated he despises Hollywood's treatment of the Vietnam conflict, not counting Coppola's masterpiece), this strange, captivating opus depicts it without making it look cool: it's ugly, it's reprehensible, it's the stuff nightmares are made of - not for nothing does it still haunt Folman and his friends.

Journey of self-discovery, cinema as psychoanalysis, a document about the past, a warning for the future: Waltz With Bashir is all those things and much, much more. It's a unique piece of cinema, unmatched in its seamless mixture of raw power and peculiar visual beauty.

Waltz With Bashir is amongst the finest animation films I've seen. It is a very disturbing comment on war and its consequences both on countries and on people of both sides. No doubt this approach has been taken by numerous other film makers; however what sets Waltz With Bashir apart is that it takes a documentary approach and compares Israel's activities in Lebanon with atrocities in the past wars.

Other than documenting events, the film also consists of surreal dream sequences and real life incidents. Thus the film emerges as a unique combination of the real and the unreal. The hand drawn animation also makes it a delight to watch. The colour gave it the right atmosphere of claustrophobia in open spaces and the background score is fabulous.

It is certainly not, as the Director of NZ Film Festival announced before the screening, a 'feel-good film'. It should appeal to people who have an interest in animation, documentaries, war and current affairs. 10 out of 10.

I just came back from watching the movie. I found it interesting and unique. The animation in the film is magnificent and enables the director to really "go wild" with his ideas, without having to be "chained" to what reality filming can give him. The main Character, is on a journey, trying to collect as many memories as he can of the time when he was a young soldier, at war. This journey is so well done, touching, interesting. The man, Ari, slowly revels his past, and we follow him, to an amazing trip down memory lane. Memories that were hidden for too long. An amazing movie that makes you think about life, people, and the complexity of war.

I think working on this movie for 4 years is long enough. You obviously missed the whole point. The point of the movie is not to point the blame at anyone, it is about showing the reality of war and what the affect it has on Soldiers.

It's not about who won, who was right, or who did what wrong. Its about how people react to it and how it affects the people who are involved in it. Yes it showed only the Israeli side of things, but hey, its because it's on the Soldiers point of view, how they saw it, not how everyone saw it, not how the other soldiers. It shows his point view, and the interviewers points of views. Thats why its like this.

And that is why it makes it so real. It is very well done.

Waltz with bashir is something that is hard to forget, while the images grab you first it is the wonderful story and direction here that keeps things at a high level.While the flashback scenes are much better then the real time stuff, there is really no flaw to this film for 90 minutes and that is really saying something in today's film world where perfection is low.I wouldn't say this movie is the best of the year by far, but it could be argued and the movie has some of the most wonderful scenes I have seen in any film including a waltz with gunfire that is oh so memorable.Or the iconic image of men in the ocean looking to the sky, the soundtrack is wonderful with music from Bach and you really feel like there was good writers, directors and producers on this whole thing that made it moving, original and something to really spend some time watching.

This is a graphic novel in film form. This is an animated film that doesn't know it's not live-action. Waltz with Bashir may very well be the most important film of 2008. Waltz with Bashir is a very personal memoir of the Lebanon War of 1982, with the accounts of writer/director/producer Ari Folman and various real life individuals who fought on Israel's side during their odyssey into the hellish nightmare that would await them in Lebanon. The film plays out documentary-style, featuring the likenesses and words of Ari Folman himself, and many others who have the most amazing stories to tell about their experiences in this war. The film begins as a friend of Ari Folman is describing a recurring nightmare he has had for the past 20 years that is connected to a traumatic experience he had in the Lebanon War. This telling jump-starts Ari's own memories, and prompts him to seek out others who he fought with in the war to try and put the pieces of a seemingly unsolvable puzzle together. The quest he undergoes will reveal startling truths, harrowing and gritty accounts by Israeli soldiers, and profound revelations.

One story in particular involving a man whose fellow soldiers were wiped out on a beach in Lebanon, and the man subsequently had to swim far out to sea and stay there until it was clear to swim back, particularly moved me. Waltz with Bashir pulls no punches at any time; the war action is just as bloody and graphic as anything you will see in live-action war films, and the film intelligently explores the atrocities committed on both sides, by both Israeli troops and Lebanese Phalangists. The film's soundtrack has the most brilliant combination of Classical, Israeli Rock, and Euro Dance, and the animation style is designed to look like a graphic novel. The film has very profound messages, as Ari begins to question whether finding out the truth and solving the puzzle is something that he truly wants to do. Wouldn't it be better to forget about the horrors of war and pretend it never happened? Luckily for us, Ari does not follow that route, instead confronting his past head-on by creating this brilliant film about his journey to uncover the truth.

The film culminates in Ari's profound revelation that he may have inadvertently contributed to a massacre committed by Christian Phalangists in Lebanon, and symbolizes this revelation with a single use of live-action at the film's climax. This use of live-action is absolutely devastating, and one of the most powerful scenes in film this year. This is an astounding film about war, traumatic memories, and regret that stands as one of the most important films about genocide since Hotel Rwanda and Schindler's List. If you have any means of seeing this film, do it now.

10/10

I had heard nothing but good things about Waltz With Bashir, and after finally seeing it, I found it every bit as good as I'd heard. Waltz With Bashir is stunning visually, the mix of live-action(used in the meetings footage) with flash animation and 3D has a very stirring and somewhat seductive look to it. Not only that, but the guilt and trauma of those involved seen in hallucinatory ways are almost suureal. The interviews are honest and compelling, with Ari Folman(directing and presenting with a superb and I think personal touch) making no time excusing the Israeli Army's role in the massacre, making some of Waltz With Bashir real, powerful and often incredibly hard-hitting.

Overall, harrowing, powerful and striking visually. 10/10 Bethany Cox

It is clear from the opening moments of "Waltz with Bashir" that this is something quite extraordinary. A pack of dogs (rendered in the film's idiosyncratic animation) races through streets terrifying all around them but carrying on with unrelenting pace and cruel stares. They congregate outside a building and growl at a man inside. It is intense, beautiful and exciting to watch, and, in a moment which does not even focus on our main character, the audience is completely gripped.

After such an opening, one could be forgiven for forgetting that what they are watching is a documentary. However, that, in a way, is what it is. The film is based around director Ari Folman's attempts to remember his experiences from the Israel-Lebanon war of the 1980s and his interviews with old friends and others as he sought to find his memories. This is about youth and war, but amnesia, individual, national and international, runs through this film and as such, the whole film seems to be like a dream. The fantastical and the strange are never far away and the power of the images which the film creates is telling.

The central image of the film (our main character's first flashback) is a haunting and beautiful moment. Everything is cast in an orange haze as three young soldiers, who have been bathing naked in the sea, are disturbed by the appearance of flares falling to the earth. It is never clear as to whether this really happened or if it is merely an imagining. This is an idea which runs through the film. Is this all a dream? But, in that moment, there is also the apparent innocence of the youths and their naive nature: a nature which is torn to pieces by the films events. Also there is the strange and tragic beauty which pounds through the film. It is breathtaking.

The sheer style and quality of the animation is the film's beating heart, and the extraordinary stories that it tells create more incredible images to be shown. This film is always mesmerising, always engrossing and utterly fresh and original. Folman's film is brief but insightful: compassionate with the young soldiers, but unrelenting about the horror of war and the atrocities which were committed. The film is honest, funny, interesting, engaging, moving and staggering.

During the film, Folman shatters the veil of dreams and gives his audience the reality. Some have seen this as a misstep, but it drives home the terrifying truth behind this film and leaves one shocked by it. Anyone who counts themselves as a lover of film must see this. It is astonishing.

5 Stars out of 5

Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (2008), a unique combination of Animation/Documentary/Biography/ Drama/ War is not easy to watch and almost impossible to forget. It is original and unusual but in its core it reminded me of a film from many years ago that explored persistence of memory which can't be stopped or avoided - "Muriel" (1963) directed by Alain Resnais. One of "Muriel" characters is a former soldier who was hunted by the memories of the war in Algiers and the local girl tortured and killed by the French soldiers. As in Muriel, the main theme of the Israeli film is reality vs. memory of it. Can we always trust ourselves with what we remember? Does our memory reflect the events the way they really happened or our vision of them is altered as time passes and new realities inevitably enter our lives? Ari Folman and his team use an innovative technique to tell the harrowing story. It is the first time, a film-maker blends documentary and animation, history and fiction to create such powerful, tragic yet beautiful film which I simply can't stop thinking about. By making himself a character of the film who tried to understand why he has no recollections of the events he had been a participant in some and an eyewitness to the others, and gradually unveiling the long hidden unbearable truth, it seems Folman made the film as a metaphor for the whole country trying to block from memory a very dark, difficult, controversial and shameful page in its history that is known as The Sabra and Shatila massacre. It was carried out between September 16 and 18, 1982 by the Lebanese Forces Christian militia group, following the assassination of Phalangist leader and president-elect Bashir Gemayel. It is not the purpose of this short review to comment on the Sabra and Shatila massacre. I just want to point out that the information available from the different Internet sources is not always complete. A very important fact has been omitted from Wikipedia that "Israeli troops allowed the Phalangists to enter two refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila to root out terrorist cells believed located there. It had been estimated that there may have been up to 200 armed men in the camps working out of the countless bunkers built by the PLO over the years, and stocked with generous reserves of ammunition. When Israeli soldiers ordered the Phalangists out, they found hundreds dead (estimates range from 460 according to the Lebanese police, to 700-800 calculated by Israeli intelligence). The dead, according to the Lebanese account, included 35 women and children. The rest were men: Palestinians, Lebanese, Pakistanis, Iranians, Syrians and Algerians."

This is a very sad and powerful movie that left a lasting impression on me but I understand that not all viewers feel the same way. My husband kept saying, "So what? What new did they say? The War, any war is dirty, unglamorous and destroying for every side involved. Thousands of innocent die tragically. The war brings shame and guilt, remorse and nightmares to the soldiers who follow orders." I agree with him but I understand why the director Ari Folman who is a Veteran of the First Lebanon War has made the film and what he tried to achieve. For almost 27 years, the debates have never stopped regarding the responsibility of Israeli military for the massacre because the Sabra and Shatila camps had been under the control of The Israeli Defense Force (IDF). By the words of Folman, his goal was not naming the guilty parties but trying to understand what is going on with these who fought as the Israeli soldiers during the First Lebanon War in Beirut and saw the results of horrors with their own eyes. Explaining why he chose to make the film as a documentary in the animated format, Ari said that animation had given him the necessary freedom in his creative process and the chance to blend the facts of reality with the perceptions, feelings and deeply hidden images in the memories of the retired soldiers- his friends and comrades whose recollections of these few days in September of 1982 as well as his own made the film possible.

The technique which is actually a combination of Adobe Flash cutouts and classic animation has produced simple, gripping and fascinating images. The atmosphere is surreal to which the dark disturbing color scheme appropriately contributes. The visual originality and innovation are accompanied by sorrowful haunting soundtrack and the songs written for the film that add to the deep emotional impact the movie made on me.

Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. Folman, a 1982 Lebanon War-veteran, attempts to recover his memories of the massacre, which he documents through the film. The film follows Folman in his conversations with friends, a psychologist and the reporter Ron Ben-Yishai who was in Beirut at the same time.

It is important to take note of the themes, symbols and characters represented in "Waltz with Bashir" along with the reality of the 1982 Isreali invasion of Lebanon. The collateral damage (damage that is uninteneded/incidental to the intended outcome) of the Sabra and Shatila massacre is catastrophic. First of all, the assassination of Bashir, the president-elect of Lebanon, led to an explosion of anger, and Christian militia men from the Lebanese Forces carrying out the massacre killing an estimated 3,500 people. Bashir represented the demise of the Palestinians. Air Folman, made references to real-life historical figures using his animation. Regarding, leit-motif, the prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, is seen repeatedly. Although it his identity is never clearly stated, his recurring appearance, as a little man with glasses, was Folman's way of including his presence in the film. Another character who is unidentified is prime minister Ariel Sharon. While sleeping, he receives a call from a concerned soldier reporting about the massacre; he simply thanks the man for the information and goes back to sleep.

The feature-length documentary was made almost entirely by means of animation, combining classical music, 80s music, realistic graphics and surrealistic scenes, taking four years to complete. The only part of the film that was not in animation, was the short segment at the every end, showing documented results of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a news archive footage by Ron Ben-Yishai. This unexpected, drastic switch from formalism to realism gives the audience a complete "slap in the face," letting reality set it. This switch was selected at the perfect time of the content curve, that is, the peak of the scene when the audience has gotten the most out of it.

With the use of animation, "Waltz with Bashir" is a formalistic approach to realism. They used dark colors, setting the tone of the film. This stylized view gives viewers the distance to take in information and review what is going on, while reality catches us off guard, leaving a huge impact. The unique style invented by Yoni Goodman and the Bridgit Folman Gang studio, is a combination of Flash cutouts and classic animation. Each drawing was sliced into hundreds of pieces, which were moved in relation to one another, creating the illusion of movement.

The original soundtrack was composed by musician Max Richter. The music plays an active role as commentator on events instead of simple accompaniment.

This is a film that is guaranteed to be a lightning rod for controversy (with lots of finger pointing & shouting "I beg your pardon...but"). The story concerns a middle aged man, who during his tenure with the Isreali Army,was involved in the war against Lebanon in 1982/83, that triggered the surge of the PLO. The audio track is a series of filmed interviews by the director with the battle scarred veterans of the war, then converted to animation (standard cell animation,3D-CGI & flash animation),like Richard Linklater did for 'Waking Life'. The film also dramatizes the surreal & disturbing dreams of some of the soldiers. Many truths/half truths,are revealed in this powerful & disturbing drama. Note:Despite the fact that this is an animated feature film, this is absolutely not...repeat NOT a film for children,or war veterans that could possibly be freaked out by some of the horrors that are depicted in this film,due to PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Rated 'R' by the MPAA,this film serves up disturbing war carnage,graphic & bloody violence,language & a brief animated sequence of a pornographic video. Again,not for the little ones.

Ari Folman's Vals Im Bashir is an exceptional film of the highest echelons of vanguard art. Certainly the most valuable contribution by any individual to the cinema of 2008, this film is both immensely powerful, but also expressive. With minimal back-story this is not a retelling of history proper or a documentary, it is in fact an unreliable, subjective account of soldiers' memories of experiences in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The haunting images Folman selects reproduce with vivid authenticity, the devastating effects of war not only to soldiers and civilians, but on collective memory, the historical record, and the very process of storytelling. History's unreliable memory has hindered individual and collective healing after the Lebanese massacre, the whole ordeal, having been buried somewhere deep in the collective conscience of the Israeli nation. The film is therapeutic in recovering elements of Ari's consciousness to the surface of his thoughts and in retelling the forgotten tragedy of the Country's most recent past.

When this movie was released in theaters, I was about 11 years old, and I didn't want to see this film (I can't remember why). Ever since, I've heard many news and reviews and stories about the success this film got worldwide, especially in Israel, and yet- I never watched it. This week I decided to give this film a try- I finally wanted to know the reason for it's success. I just finished watching it, and now I understand exactly what I missed- the best Israeli film ever. The animation is unique and excellent, the story is interesting and was told spectacularly, the dialog is absolutely great, fast and well- paced movie, the opening scene is just brilliant, a great history lesson about one of Israel's famous wars, there was a lot of comedy and humor (to my surprise) which was handled and presented fantastically, the drama is also intense and well handled, can be a little harsh at times but there aren't many harsh and hard-to-watch scenes. Overall, great film, definitely the best movie ever came out from Israel, and like I said before- fantastically-told story and a great history lesson if you're learning about Israel's war with Lebanon.

23 Awards, including a Cesar and a Golden Globe; and 23 more nominations including Oscar and BAFTA. This is one of the very best films of 2008, and would have had more exposure if they had 10 Best Film nominations at the Academy Awards last year.

The film was visually stunning. The sound, the music, the animation were all excellent. It was a pleasure to watch and hear.

The film is an attempt to understand and explain a massacre that took place during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. A friend of the director interviews old army buddies to try and come up with answers - much like Rashomon.

The answers came slowly. Those in command were aware of the massacre and did nothing.

We ask ourselves, as we are aware of massacres occurring today in Rwanda, Darfur, even the Holocaust. We knew and we did nothing. Are we just as guilty.

The use of animation to tell this story was most appropriate as it allowed the memories to be shown.

The first animated film to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar when it was included in the category in the 2009 ceremony, Ari Folman's Golden Globe winning documentary unlike any other is one of the finest feats of film-making of the modern era regardless of genre or style, as the Israeli born director delves into a very personal story of his and his friends experience's from their parts in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

One of the most confronting and honest accounts of the effects war has on one's psyche and lives, Waltz with Bashir (named after a pivotal scene in the film) sees Folman tell his and others stories through a stunning animation format that turns the talking head and recreated memories rule-book on its head, as Folman slowly but surely unlocks his own memories of the war that for many years remained repressed in his own mind.

When you watch the events of Bashir and are taken back into the occurrences of our various subjects minds its hard to think of a better way in which Folman could've explored such bizarre instances or moments of complete and utter bewilderment and throughout the films brief 80 minute run-time there are some immensely striking and unforgettable moments that will stick with the viewer long after the credits have rolled.

Often accompanied by Max Richter's haunting score, Bashir has moments of transformative beauty littered throughout scenes that even in animated form remain hard to bare, highlights include a recurring instance of Folman's vision of himself and two others emerging from a calm sea to a city-scape torn to pieces or soldiers wandering through an orchard only to be interrupted by a child wielding an RPG.

Most of Bashir can only be classified as a work of art, a heartfelt and astonishingly well put-together piece of cinema, highlighting not only the oft-forgotten conflict that raged in Lebanon but also the true cost of war that more often than not extends long after the battle has concluded.

It's a shame Folman in the years post-Bashir has been unable to return to the form he found here with the little-seen The Congress his only feature film to have been released, robbing us of a talent that announced himself brightly with a genuine masterpiece.

Final Say -

A unique documentary, war expose and animation that's beauty is hard to describe in words, Waltz with Bashir may not be a film spoken about regularly but its a film deserving of your time and attention with it being as powerful today as it was upon release.

5 party boats out of 5

'Waltz with Bashir' is an animated documentary written and directed by Ari Folman. The film follows Folman in his search for his lost memories from the time when he served in the Israeli army during the traumatic Lebanon War of 1982.

The first thing that I realised while watching 'Waltz with Bashir' is the fact that the animation was absolutely indispensable and this film could never have been made in any other possible way. This is because although this is at the basic level a documentary, but Folman takes a lot of artistic liberty to recreate the real life events and these recreations would never have been possible without the medium of animation. So the animation actually enhances and assists Folman's storytelling instead of sticking out as a gimmick. Thanks to the meticulous animation and the visual attention to detail, the whole film looks gorgeous. Every still shot can be framed and laminated to admire the beauty that is on show. The surreal imagery of the animation will stay with me for a long, long time. Folman uses the animation to juxtapose the beauty of the visuals with the devastating nature of the events during the war that the visuals were capturing. There are multiple haunting images and shots which are devastating to watch like certain scenes in 'Schindler's List'.

The screenplay for the film and the subject is deep and thematically rich. Although Folman never shies away from the heavy nature of the subject matter, but Folman's style keeps the film vibrant and energetic throughout. Even viewers who generally tend to avoid war films will find this engrossing.

The primary themes running through the film are the loss of innocence and guilt. We see Folman interview other men who like him served in the Lebanon War. We see these men recall the horrors of war that they had to witness when they were just young boys pushed into this hellish environment. Pretty much all the stories and interviews are interconnected. All the stories underline the madness and the futility of war. The stories also establish the mental struggles that these war veterans have had to deal with after coming back. The singular element that connects these mental issues of most of these men is the element of guilt. The guilt of having to kill human beings and also the guilt of surviving the war when many of their colleagues couldn't. Water bodies like the ocean play an important and symbolic role in many of their stories. Folman uses this aforementioned theme of guilt very craftily and uses it to connect the issues concerning the nation of Israel as a whole in the political scenario with the personal issues troubling the individuals covered in this film.

Another very relevant theme dealt with by Ari Folman is the dynamic nature of memories. He explores and establishes that someone's memories can be fabricated by others or by himself/herself. A person can choose to completely forget certain aspects of his/her life because of certain subconscious assumptions.

'Waltz with Bashir' is an artistic masterpiece. Its substance and style go hand in hand and complement each other instead of one submerging the other. It is a political film that is ambitious in its style and becomes more than just about politics and war. It becomes a transcendental work about human emotions.

This movie, to me, is incredible. It shook me so hard the first time I watched it that it took me days to actually properly process it all in my head. It overwhelmed me with unforgettable images, haunting music, and an intriguing plot that actually plays out somewhat like a mystery. I won't go into the plot itself, because all the other reviewers have already summarised it pretty well. Also, you should really go into this film knowing as little about it as possible- it's one of those kinds of movies. The film is remarkable for not taking a political side in the conflicts that it explores. Instead, it a deeply personal film where we travel into the dreams, flashbacks, and hallucinations of numerous ex-soldiers who are all trying to remember a war they fought in 20 odd years ago. Everything in Waltz With Bashir works perfectly, and it amazingly manages to be so many different things in just 90 minutes. It's a fascinating documentary. a powerful anti-war film, a riveting drama, a beautiful animation, a compelling mystery, and even somewhat of a chilling horror films of sorts- all at once. Hell, if that's not enough, it even throws in a few instances of surrealism and black comedy. And it balances all these elements perfectly. It's also extremely emotional. I can almost guarantee it'll have a profound impact on you. It's a remarkable film in every conceivable way, and I'd gladly place it in my top fifteen films of all time. A comfortable 10 out of ten from me.

The curious animation technique - an oddly flattened, stilted but graceful computer assisted rotoscoping - casts a powerful spell throughout its 90 minutes of inspired hallucinations. It sets you up for a sudden sucker punch of shocking scenes of horrendous reality. Ari Folman isn't pulling a stunt, nor is he exploiting an unconscionable atrocity merely for a cheap cinematic thrill. On the contrary, he's exploiting a very effective technique to honestly, accurately share with us the overwhelming horror of his fractured memories of a wartime nightmare. So that we may more fully experience his intense revelation, he has constructed a deceptively alluring parallel world of moving forms and colors that entrances our eyes as the plainly spoken story penetrates to a very deep and vulnerable part of our psyches. It's a sublimely crafty trick, a profoundly elegant solution to the challenge of recreating in the audience his own experience of finally arriving at a long suppressed, possibly self destroying awareness.

The mystery of whether or not he took part first hand in a massacre of Palestinian refugees at a camp in Lebanon in 1982 drives the action, or rather, the animation to some awfully amazing places stylistically. There are vistas and views that mimic reality impeccably but suddenly dissolve and mutate into surreal visions of delirium and paranoia that live action could never equal. What's even more remarkable is that this powerful graphic method, in the end, is more so a necessary concession to an even more powerful effect encountered at the film's end. It suddenly became clear that the use of animation is only a means by which we could be prepared - set up - for the final moment. Ari hasn't created a cartoon just because he prefers making cartoons, but because he trusted animation to lure us, ever so slightly, away from "reality". It just so happens that the curious computer aided technique he's developed convincingly, terrifically sustains itself. I never once felt as though use of animation - a form normally employed for more trivial, lighter purposes - was inadequate or disrespectful of the deadly serious subject. The graphic style is absolutely hypnotic, but never distracting, never self indulgent. The film carries itself - and me - effortlessly, magically, gracefully, right up to its powerfully tragic finale.

I know well enough that the world is too often a horrible, insane place of misery and despair, and this knowledge has left me numbed, deadened to so much. So, for a modest personal tale to arouse this much convoluted, indescribable emotion in me is a very rare occurrence. That's the power and function of art and is the reason that enlightened societies so highly value true artists, and Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir" is art of the highest order.