Movie-Waltz With Bashir

Waltz With Bashir was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film. It was a favorite because it has won the Golden Globe, but it did not win the Oscar.

Wow. This is an amazing movie. It is animated, but with an animation I have never seen before, and that was so evocative. It also was a documentary, that chronicled the real life experiences of the director, as he tried to find his memories as an Israeli soldier in the Lebanese War...memories that were gone, that would not emerge.

The film is so effective because memories lie somewhere in dreams, and it would have been hard to document dreams without animation. The dreams of other soldiers, now in middle age, connecting to their memories. The dreams/nightmares of war.

Waltz With Bashir (2008) is about as anti-war as you can get, yet it does not come across preachy, it simply tells the story from a soldier's viewpoint. It also shows the lack of responsibility taken for the horrors that war produces by anyone.

This film is a work of art on so many levels. It is not just great and unique animation, nor a compelling story, nor a moral viewpoint. But the synthesis of all these and more, make something that transcends all these. Waltz With Bashir is a movie that should be seen.