Yes, I'm a Jew (an atheist Jew) from Israel. When this movie was released in theaters, I was about 11 years old, and I didn't want to see this film (I can't remember why). Ever since, I've heard many news and reviews and stories about the success this film got worldwide, especially in Israel, and yet- I never watched it. This week I decided to give this film a try- I finally wanted to know the reason for it's success. I just finished watching it, and now I understand exactly what I missed- the best Israeli film ever. The animation is unique and excellent, the story is interesting and was told spectacularly, the dialog is absolutely great, fast and well- paced movie, the opening scene is just brilliant, a great history lesson about one of Israel's famous wars, there was a lot of comedy and humor (to my surprise) which was handled and presented fantastically, the drama is also intense and well handled, can be a little harsh at times but there aren't many harsh and hard-to-watch scenes. Overall, great film, definitely the best movie ever came out from Israel, and like I said before- fantastically-told story and a great history lesson if you're learning about Israel's war with Lebanon.

I believe this is the 3rd or 4th time I'm watching this film. Haven't watched it in a very long time.I'm not a big fan of our cinema here in Israel, but this film is just brilliant. Definitely on the top 10 and one of the best animations ever made. This is a combination of excellent direction, excellent score (and sound editing), excellent animation and great story telling (I'd say "writing", but I'm not sure how much was written and how much is from real interviews).The movie tells stories of the Lebanon war from the eyes of different Israeli soldiers. It's an anti-war movie and like many Israeli movies that succeed in Europe, it's very left-wing. Still, it's an amazing film, showing the chaos of war and the sad moments. It's mostly moving because you know and feel the stories are real.

I can honestly say that I've never seen anything quite like WALTZ WITH BASHIR before. It's animated, but it's also a documentary which recounts director Ari Folman's attempt to reclaim long-suppressed memories of his involvement in the Lebanon War. The animation-documentary combination is an odd one, but nevertheless it works extraordinarily well with what the filmmakers seemed to be going for here. Although it mostly deals with firsthand war experiences, the larger theme is the subjective and fragile nature of memory, particularly of the traumatic and painful variety. I don't really want to get into any specifics because to do so would spoil the impact. All I'll say is that this film builds rather slowly as different people are interviewed and details are revealed, and the climax is sure to provoke an emotional reaction. As far as the quality of the film is concerned, the animation is very well-done. The movement is a little odd at times, but this is due to them either using cut-outs or roto-scoping (maybe a combination of both?). I'm fairly certain that the interview scenes were based on actual film footage, but I could be wrong. The sequences in the past are distinguished from the present by having this watercolor-like, washed-out, yellow-tinged and dingy look, while the scenes in the present have more natural-looking color. Back to thematic content, there is also some discussion about dreams and how they relate to memory. And of course, since this film deals with a war (and massacre) issues of morality come up, if in a more subtle way than you might think. What I took away from this is that the Lebanon War (and Palestinian massacre) is something that weighs heavy on the Israeli/Jewish conscience. We as human beings tend to block out things from our memories that we find offensive and overly traumatic, and there probably is some cognitive dissonance between the very real atrocities visited on Jews in the past and the atrocities that they have inflicted, or at least passively observed being inflicted, on others. It should go without saying that this film deals with some very heavy subject matter, but it's very important that we as human beings are able to confront and deal with all memories, even the ones we'd like to forget.

Waltz with Bashir is animated like nothing I have ever seen before. Friends have compared it to a grittier Avatar: The Last Airbender. This gritty stylized animation does wonders for the film, it always looks it's best when combat or some form of action is happening. In turn allowing the film to help convey the animosity of combat along with it's many other messages. The scoring of this film also does wonders for it, such as the juxtaposition of a soft piano medley over an intense gun fight. This film has it's moments that will blow you away and thanks to all the artistic trait of this film they are delivered perfectly. My only warning for this film is that it starts a bit slow, but it ramps itself amazingly in the second half in artistic value, character development, and plot. I recommend this to anyone who even only vaguely would like to see it.