Waltz With Bashir

R

Released Dec 25, 2008

1h 30m

Documentary

Animation

List

97%

155 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman wrote, directed and stars in this autobiographical animated film. As a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the 1982 war with Lebanon, Folman witnessed the Sabra and Shatila massacre, but realizes that he has no memory of the event. In 2006, he seeks out others who were in Beirut at the time to discuss their memories, including a psychologist specializing in post-traumatic stress disorders and the first journalist to cover the massacre.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 16

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent Waltz With Bashir on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

A wholly innovative, original, and vital history lesson, with pioneering animation, Waltz With Bashir delivers its message about the Middle East in a mesmerizing fashion.

Read Critics Reviews

Eddie s

A masterpiece and so important right now

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/26/24

Full Review

Saint

Decent soundtrack, dream sequence, and concept for a documentary.. but not a convincing perspective. I think the director's intention for the ending is to solidify his story, but it backfired—it made it miniscule. The PTSD of a single living able-bodied oppressor is insultingly light compared to the displacement, mass disabling, and massacre of thousands of civilians. As soon as the real footage was showed, it was very hard to keep caring about what the soldier went through.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/24

Full Review

Pierre L

This is the way ! Dance with the death. Kill but with joy !

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Vals Im Bashir" has excellent animation, some memorable, suitably distressing imagery, a well-integrated soundtrack, self-evidently important anti-war messaging and intriguing themes of memory and psychology, yet the documentary style becomes increasingly cold, distancing the viewer from Ari's personal journey that was set up in the beginning, and the animation, although justified by the premise, sugarcoats the brutality of war in a way that cannot be redeemed by the extremely brief finale.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

2008 was a fantastic year for animation (and for cinema in general): WALL-E is my favourite animated film of all time and Kung Fu Panda is my favourite DreamWorks movie. I think the only really weak animated feature of that year was Disney's Bolt. And Waltz With Bashir could easily take Bolt's spot at the Academy Awards nominations for Best Animated Feature. It was possibly the only animated documentary with a big impact in a long time (Flee, which deservedly received a triple nomination, was released in 2021) and an absolutely innovative way to tell a story, because it preserves the identity of who's telling, at the same time it doesn't nullify or question the credibility of the story. And if Flee deserved a triple nomination, Waltz with Bashir deserved it on its time (it was only nominated for Best International Film, representing Israel). The story has a perfect introductory nature (not only for the audience but also for the protagonist, who was at the war but doesn't remember what happened) and has piqued my curiosity to search more about the Lebanese Civil War.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'd previously read about Shatlia and Sabra massacres but this was an amazing docu animation that brought home the horrors of what happened in Lebanon. Very well put together and an interesting angle on events.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Ari Folman

Director

Ron Ben-Yishai

Self

Ronny Dayag

Self

Ari Folman

Self

Dror Harazi

Self

Yehezkel Lazarov

Carmi Cna'an

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

83%

86%

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

83%

83%

Protagonist

66%

84%

Screamers

96%

88%

Nanking

85%

82%

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

RT on DVD: Waltz with a Shopaholic Pink Panther in Wonderland

Academy Names Nine Foreign Film Finalists

Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics’ Choice Winners

View more photos

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Persepolis meets Full Metal Jacket in Ari Folman's powerful and original animated war film.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 14, 2010

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

These depictions of the dementia of war have a hallucinatory power that can stand alongside those of Apocalypse Now.

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

Mary Corliss

TIME Magazine

The message of the futility of war has rarely been painted with such bold strokes.

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

War may be hell for people of all ages, but Folman ensures that moments of grace and beauty shine through, best exemplified by Roni Dayag’s recollection of a late-night swim away from the scene of a beachfront battle.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 17, 2023

Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

Waltz with Bashir's illustrated and animated interviews with fellow veterans of the 1982 Lebanon War give the events and effects discussed a dream-like quality that often represent traumatizing real-life history.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 11, 2023

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A very powerful film about the horrors of war and the corrosive effects of dehumanization, told with a fast paced and splendid animation style. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 8/10

Dec 2, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman wrote, directed and stars in this autobiographical animated film. As a 19-year-old infantry soldier in the 1982 war with Lebanon, Folman witnessed the Sabra and Shatila massacre, but realizes that he has no memory of the event. In 2006, he seeks out others who were in Beirut at the time to discuss their memories, including a psychologist specializing in post-traumatic stress disorders and the first journalist to cover the massacre.

Director: Ari Folman
Screenwriter: Ari Folman
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Israel Film Fund, Télévision Suisse-Romande (TSR), Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF), Razor Film Produktion GmbH, SBS, Les Films d'ici, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Arte France
Rating: R (Dist. Images of Atrocities|Brief Nudity|Graphic Sexual Violence|Strong Violence)
Genre: Documentary, Animation
Original Language: Hebrew
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.3M
Runtime: 1h 30m

Most Popular at Home Now