Waltz With Bashir

Ari Folman
2008

I can't say I've ever been too fond of Israel as a political entity, and what with the recent invasion of Gaza my feelings towards the nation haven't gotten any warmer, so I find it a little timely that this animated documentary demon-exorcism deals with aging bourgeoisie Israelis coping with their participation in an abhorrent war crime. Shrill politics aside the picture is a triumph of form - a documentary with the ability to record intangible dreams. These hazy visions of naked boys rising from the sea with assault rifles, hauntings exacted by snarling slain dogs, and the comfort of being enveloped by a giant nude beauty are as real as the bombed out buildings of Beirut, as real as ammunition shell casings. The animation itself is breathtaking, and while the argument over the digitization of cinema is pretty much a moot point by now, this film and a handful of others show just how undeniably beneficial technological advances have been for artistic animation. Folman's spiritual search is honest and unpretentious, lending credence and tragedy to a certifiable war crime. The scene in which Folman returns to Israel on leave only to find a partying population, oblivious to the war waged by their country, is frighteningly familiar to the home front anesthetization of many U.S. citizens regarding the current war in Iraq/Afghanistan.