Raven-1969 Flares illuminate the night sky over war torn Beirut as a group of Israeli soldiers emerges from the ocean after a swim. The quiet and surreal atmosphere belies and obscures a massacre taking place deeper within the shattered hulk of the city.Also affected by the distortion are the memories of some who were there. The film's director is among them. Despite his proximity to the scene, Folman remembers little of the Sabra and Shatila massacres by Christian Phalangist militiamen. The recurring dream of a friend, a pack of wild dogs rampaging through city streets, inspires Folman to revisit the past and his own role in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. By collecting memories of others, he hopes to recreate his own.Animation is the chosen medium for the recreation and it is a wise choice, for the skillful art reaches further into our psyche than talking heads, still pictures and bald facts. The story has more impact because it is a personal and honest exploration, and there is no political agenda at play. What unfolds is a dark, but fascinating, revealing and consequential glimpse into war, fear, genocide and the impact of violence on memory.The fact that memory is dynamic and alive, is among the insights provided by this remarkable film. Memory, for better or worse, often fabricates experiences and fills in gaps with things that never happened. It takes us where we need to go. We accompany Folman into the carnage, the burnt bodies and crosses carved in chests, but also into redemption and healing. These stories of darkness, fear and pain - each of us has them - must be told, for it is the only way we heal.

siderite I am usually rating movies based on their genre. Since there are few animated documentaries around, this by itself would place Vals Im Bashir pretty high, but while I was trying to find flaws in the film, I realized that I am having difficulty doing that. Perhaps the only one that makes sense is that the animation is very basic, Adobe Flash like, other than that, it is something that touches on both factual and emotional level, without being heavy handed.To put it in perspective, it is the story of an Israeli man trying to understand why he forgot what happened during the war in Lebanon and his journey to remembering. It is not a propaganda film, but a personal documentary film of the director's journey: the man in the film.I can only recommend it.

gavin6942 An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.indieWire named the film the tenth best of the year, based on the site's annual survey of 100 film critics. Xan Brooks of The Guardian called it "an extraordinary, harrowing, provocative picture." The film was praised for "inventing a new cinematographic language" at the Tokyo Filmex festival. Despite the positive critical reception, the film was only moderately commercially successful in Israel itself.I love the way this is animated. Similar to rotoscope, but less awkward looking. And it takes a very serious, dangerous, and deadly historical note and makes it palatable by having it be these people recount their memories and be animated, so it does not have that harsh reality.

bob the moo This film was a big deal quite a few years ago now and pretty much since then I have told myself that I should watch it because it is supposed to be very good. Of course the subject matter made my lazy, stupid brain always take easier options when it came to picking from the queue and as such Waltz with Bashir has kicked around at the bottom of a drawer for quite some time now waiting to be watched. I finally got over myself this week and did so and I really didn't enjoy the experience although of course this is precisely how it should have been.The film is a tough watch as it reconstructs memories from the protagonist and his friends who were all involved in the Lebanon War in the late 80's. It starts out slowly and takes the form of an documentary where we have the characters relating their experiences back to us through interviews (although mostly they are discussions). This device is common in documentary films and are supported by stock footage of the events; in this case the delivery is different as the film is animated so we are able to see events as they occurred in the character's experience, not just representative footage. This works very well and allows for some really cinematic shots but also the best shot selection as anything is possible in animation. The film builds through the stories and generally it is as horrifying as it is engaging – it is a series of well told stories and it works very well because you listen even when it is difficult to do so.It isn't fun and it isn't easy but it is visually very well made and the whole structure and delivery of the film is engaging and brutal. It is a great war film, a great animation – just generally a great film.