Vals Im Bashir (2008)

For you non-Hebrew speakers out there, that is "Waltz With Bashir," a 2008 Israeli documentary, which recently held the honor of being the first animated feature to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

I really enjoy when I catch a movie at The Pickford that I don't know much about, and end up absolutely loving it. All I knew about "Waltz With Bashir" before heading in was that the animation looked spectacular. At first glance the film looks like it may be solely utilizing rotoscoping techniques, but upon further viewing you can see it really is a hodgepodge of different types of animation, that all lend incredibly well to the films absurdly surrealistic feel.

What really makes "Waltz With Bashir" so unique is that it is essentially an animated documentary. The filmmaker, Ari Folman, is a veteren of the 1982 Lebanon War. Haunted by the wars events he has actually completely blocked all memories of it out of his mind, as if it never happened. After hearing about an old buddy's reoccurring war-related dream, Folman remembers something about the war for the first time in 20 years; himself along with two fellow men, emerging from the ocean and entering Beruit after the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Puzzled by the events surrounding this memory, Folman searches out fellow vets of the war, unraveling the events of the was after 20 years.

What transpires is truly a unique and revolutionary look into the psyche of a war vet, the fact that this film is animated really lends to the surreal, and terrifying mind set of individuals during times of massacre, and ungodly violence, that a live action documentary would of never been able to portray.

Here is a great article about the filmmaker Folman, his life, and a little more about the film. "Waltz With Bashir" is only at the Pickford until Thursday so go check it out if you have the time.