Vals Im Bashir (2008)

Director:

Ari Folman

Writer:

Ari Folman (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 2008 (Israel)

Genre:

Animation | Biography | Drama | War

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Lebanon | Dog | Lebanon War | Army

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 23 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Ron Ben-Yishai	...	Himself (voice)
Ronny Dayag	...	Himself (voice)
Ari Folman	...	Himself (voice)
Dror Harazi	...	Himself (voice)
Yehezkel Lazarov	...	Carmi Cna'an (voice)
Mickey Leon	...	Boaz Rein-Buskila (voice)
Ori Sivan	...	Himself (voice)
Zahava Solomon	...	Herself (voice)

Directed by
Ari Folman

Writing credits
Ari Folman		(written by)

Produced by
Ari Folman	....	producer
Serge Lalou	....	producer
Gerhard Meixner	....	producer
Yael Nahlieli	....	producer
Roman Paul	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Richter

Film Editing by
Nili Feller

Art Direction by
David Polonsky

Production Management
David Berdah	....	production manager
Verona Meier	....	production manager

Art Department
Ya'ara Buchman	....	artist
Michael Faust	....	artist
Asaf Hanuka	....	artist
Tomer Hanuka	....	artist
Yoni Solmon	....	art assistant

Sound Department
Aviv Aldema	....	sound designer
Meir Alfassi	....	sound mixer
Adrian Baumeister	....	dialogue editor
Rebekka Garrido	....	sound post-production supervisor
Lars Ginzel	....	re-recording mixer
Noemi Hampel	....	sound effects
Hubert Henle	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Alex Hudd	....	sound consultant: dolby
Michael Reuter	....	sound post-production supervisor
Carsten Richter	....	foley artist
Oded Ringel	....	sound mixer
Marcus Sujata	....	foley recordist

Visual Effects by
Matthias Albrecht	....	digital film editor
Alon Alpert	....	After Effects
Markus Bäuerle	....	digital lab supervisor
Feller Eran	....	visual effects
Sebastian Göhs	....	digital colourist
Thomas Lehmann	....	film recording
Meital Miselevich	....	After Effects
Avri Olschwang	....	After Effects
Nitzan Roiy	....	visual effects supervisor
Maik Strauch	....	color timer
Roei Tzoref	....	After Effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Edan Sasson	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Barak Drori	....	animator
Gali Edelbaum	....	lead animator
Tal Gadon	....	lead animator
Sefi Gayego	....	animator
Yoni Goodman	....	animation director
Neta Holzer	....	animator
Micah Kredo	....	additional animator
Adva Markovich	....	additional animator
Lilach Sarid	....	animator
Zohar Shahar	....	animator
Orit Shimon	....	animator
Asenath Wald	....	animator

Editorial Department
Ivar Beer	....	head of digital film lab
Ute Lingner	....	film lab manager
Stefan Müller	....	managing director film lab
Gabriela Schultze	....	sales manager film lab

Music Department
Natalia Bonner	....	musician: violin
Louisa Fuller	....	musician: solo violin
Stuart Hamilton	....	recording engineer
John Metcalfe	....	musician: viola
Max Richter	....	musician: piano
Max Richter	....	score mixer
Max Richter	....	score producer
Chris Worsey	....	musician: cello

Other crew
Dr. Frank Brauner	....	legal consultant
John Charles	....	software manager: Sony DAC
Lior Fridman	....	additional researcher
Adam Meir	....	voice over
Edda Reiser	....	back office
Charlotte Uzu	....	international development
Meital Zvieli	....	researcher

Thanks
Bob Dylan	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Bridgit Folman Film Gang
• Les Films d'Ici
• Razor Film Produktion GmbH
• Arte France (co-production)
• Hot Telecommunication (in collaboration with)
• ITVS (in co-production with)
• Israel Film Fund (in collaboration with)
• Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (in collaboration with)
• New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television (in collaboration with)
• Noga Communication - Channel 8 (in collaboration with)

Distributors

• First Distributors (2009) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Asociácia slovenských filmových klubov (ASFK) (2009) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
• Aerofilms (2008) (Slovakia) (all media)
• Aerofilms (2009) (Czech Republic) (all media) (subtitled)
• Alive Vertrieb und Marketing (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Arkles Entertainment (2008) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Artificial Eye (2008) (UK) (all media)
• Atalanta Filmes (2009) (Portugal) (all media)
• Cinéart (2008) (Belgium) (all media)
• Cinéart (2008) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• Cinéart (2008) (Netherlands) (all media)
• Filmware International (2009) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Folkets Bio (2009) (Sweden) (all media)
• Future Film (2009) (Denmark) (all media)
• Future Film (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Future Film (2009) (Norway) (all media)
• Golem Distribución (2008) (Spain) (all media)
• Le Pacte (2008) (France) (all media)
• Lucky Red (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (all media)
• Pandora Filmproduktion (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (all media)
• Seville Pictures (2008) (Canada) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2008) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (Chile) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (Colombia) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (Mexico) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2009) (Argentina) (all media)
• Twin Pics (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• CinePostproduction

Other Companies

• CinePostproduction  post-production
• Post Republic, The  sound post-production

Also Known As:

Waltz with Bashir (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Valse avec Bachir (France)
Walzer mit Bashir (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing images of atrocities, strong violence, brief nudity and a scene of graphic sexual content.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Israel | Germany | France | USA | Finland | Switzerland | Belgium | Australia

Language:

Hebrew | German | English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Israel:16 (re-rating) | Israel:18 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA | Netherlands:16 | Germany:12 | Ireland:16 | France:U | Czech Republic:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:R (British Columbia) | Lebanon:(Banned) | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:16 | Mexico:B15 | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Singapore:R21 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Japan:PG12

Company:

Bridgit Folman Film Gang

Trivia:

Contrary to common perception, there is no rotoscope work in this film. The production team did shoot live action footage, but this was then used as references for the film's storyboards. The storyboards where then redrawn as digital paintings, which were manipulated with Flash animation.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The song used in the film, "This Is Not A Love Song" by Public Image Ltd, came out in 1983, even though the war and the massacres depicted in the film happened in 1982.

Quotes:

Boaz Rein-Buskila: Do you ever have flashbacks from Lebanon?
Ari Folman: No. No, not really.

Movie Connections:

References Space Invaders (1978) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Concerto No. 5 in F Minor for Harpsichord and Strings, BWV 1056

An extraordinary achievement that redefines the documentary genre

Let's get one thing straight from the beginning: Waltz With Bashir is an animated documentary. It may sound like a paradox, but hey, when the film played at the Cannes Film Festival (which it left with rave reviews but zero awards) it was inevitably compared to Persepolis, which is an animated autobiography. The comparison was also caused by both movies having open anti-war messages, but they couldn't be more different in concept and execution. They do have one important thing in common, though: they are animated not because it looked good, but because it was the best artistic choice the directors could make.

In the case of Ari Folman, the choice was dictated by the unique angle from which he chose to tell the story: subjectivity. Folman, like many young Israeli men in the '80s, joined the army to fight in Lebanon when he was merely 18 (this was in 1982), thinking he could serve his country in the best way possible. Once the war was over, Folman's new career began, and he is now a successful actor, director and writer (among other things, he worked on the TV show that inspired HBO's In Treatment). However, he still wasn't able to completely get over the war experience, and so he decided to make Waltz With Bashir in order to exorcise his demons, so to speak. In doing so, he delivered one of the strongest, boldest documents about the true nature of conflict.

Folman's introspective journey begins with the lack of memory: apparently, he and many of his fellow soldiers have trouble remembering the exact details of what happened in Lebanon. All they have left is dreams, like the haunting nightmare that opens the movie (26 murderous dogs surrounding the apartment of a former soldier, who believes it to be a subconscious punishment for his killing 26 dogs during a mission) or Folman's eerie flashback of himself and his friends emerging from the water after a massacre he can't (or perhaps doesn't want to) remember. Engaging in a pursuit of the truth, the director locates several people with first-hand recollections of those events, and all these people (minus two) supply their own voices for their animated counterparts.

The stream of personal anecdotes and, as said earlier, dreams, made it impossible for Folman to show real footage of what he was trying to say. After all, how do you show a live-action dream sequence in a documentary without making it look corny? Hence the winning choice of rendering the whole story through animation, with just one exception (the final scene, the one that justifies the film's existence, consists of real filmed material). This gives the picture a feel that is both evocative and down-to-earth, a bizarre but powerful combination that has earned Waltz With Bashir comparisons with the similarly merciless Apocalypse Now. Like few other films about war (Folman has openly stated he despises Hollywood's treatment of the Vietnam conflict, not counting Coppola's masterpiece), this strange, captivating opus depicts it without making it look cool: it's ugly, it's reprehensible, it's the stuff nightmares are made of - not for nothing does it still haunt Folman and his friends.

Journey of self-discovery, cinema as psychoanalysis, a document about the past, a warning for the future: Waltz With Bashir is all those things and much, much more. It's a unique piece of cinema, unmatched in its seamless mixture of raw power and peculiar visual beauty.