Animated Documentary ‘Waltz With Bashir’ One of Best of 2008

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – “Waltz With Bashir” is a transcendent shattering of what viewers should expect from traditional animation or the standard documentary film. Ari Folman’s dream-like journey into his own memory is a must-see, one of the best films of 2008 and a likely Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

It is difficult to capture the experience of “Waltz With Bashir” in words. The film’s writer/director knew that language could not adequately convey what he wanted and that makes it equally hard to explain to a reader the massive power of this experience.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Waltz With Bashir” in our reviews section.

“Waltz With Bashir” is a masterful dissection of the way memory works its way from repression back to the conscious. It is not only an emotional, evocative experience in its own right but it is also a jolt to the cinematic system, a movie that defies easy labels or definition.

Folman’s animated documentary opens with snarling dogs running at the screen to a techno beat. Immediately, it’s clear that this is not your standard doc.

The dogs are a vision of one of Folman’s friends, a fellow soldier in the Israel Defense Forces in 1982 during the Lebanon War. The 26 canines are the animals that Folman’s drinking buddy can never forget shooting during the conflict in Beirut.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Waltz With Bashir” review.

Waltz With Bashir
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics