It’s a film about a Jew gradually remembering his time before and during this massacre of Palestinian refugees in 1982. It’s presented as a documentary, interspersed with flashbacks that occasionally take the form of music videos. At the same time, it’s a very personal picture; director Ari Folman himself is at the centre of the film and his uncovering of memories is what carries the film forward.
Unfortunately, Waltz with Bashir ends up being a collage that for me lacked cohesiveness, and soon made me stop caring about the people on screen.
It’s for viewers like me probably that Folman showed real images of the aftermath at the end – his intention was to remind us that this wasn’t just an animated movie, and what happened there was real; instead it just felt manipulative and tacky, and I didn’t buy it.
There is such a thing as a good dramatic war animation film, but Waltz with Bashir ain’t it. I give it points for the cool visual style and the handful of nice scenes.
Oh, and even the title is deceptive: I don’t remember hearing any waltzes in the film. Unless Jews waltz in 7/8, that is.
– prowler
5.2/10
interview with the director, where he correctly describes the film as being basic and banal in substance
The Laminated Book of Dreams 
I think WWB is the kind of movie that makes you want to leave the cinema after 10 minutes or marks you for a long time after you’ve seen it. I’m in the second category 🙂 I don’t know what made you stop caring about the people on the screen, but in my case it was exactly the opposite, because, although it was an animation, i always had a “reminder” in my mind that was telling me: “Don’t be fooled by the animation, everything was real”.
Still, the “real” scenes at the end shocked me. I’m not using strong words, it’s just that i took personally the whole story, i tried to put myself in the shoes of those people. And by the way, the waltz was a memorable scene when those soldiers were moving all together at the same time, in the same way, in that orchird where they killed that little boy. Also, when that soldier took the gun from his friend, ran in the center of the platform and started shooting everyone, with his eyes closed and making some strange moves, jumping and turning around, just like in a waltz :)It’s definitely a movie that i recommend and would see again.
yeah the eyes closed dancing scene was one of the “nice scenes” i was mentioning – still, i remember it not being a waltz. i may be wrong though
i don’t remember the orchard scene very well, you may be right.
anyway, this is the problem – it relies too heavily on the audience knowing the story is real; it uses that to manipulate.
the characters (although i liked the way they talked) were paper thin and would’ve been impossible to empathise with, had we not known there are real people behind them.
i stopped caring at the first music video, that’s when i realised the director would stop at nothing to achieve a certain reaction from the audience, which apparently he has.
a really good film stands up on its own, regardless if it’s based on a true story or not.