One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.

Vals Im Bashir (2008)
  • Rating: (26,261 votes)
  • Runtime:90 minutes
  • Director: Ari Folman
  • Countries:Israel, France, Germany, USA, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia
  • Actors:
    Himself (voice)
    Ari Folman
    Himself (voice)
    Ori Sivan
    Himself (voice)
    Ronny Dayag
    Himself (voice)
    Shmuel Frenkel
    Herself (voice)
    Zahava Solomon
    Himself (voice)
    Ron Ben-Yishai
    Himself (voice)
    Dror Harazi
    Boaz Rein-Buskila (voice)
    Mickey Leon
    Carmi Cna'an (voice)
    Yehezkel Lazarov
  • Genres:Documentary, Animation, Biography, Drama, War
  • Producers:
    Ari Folman
    producer  
    Serge Lalou
    producer  
    Gerhard Meixner
    producer  
    Yael Nahlieli
    producer  
    Roman Paul
    producer  
  • Plot: One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there's a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can't remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images. Written by intlpress@aol.com
Vals Im Bashir
  • User's comment:Great, personal film about the horrors of war by GHCool

    I saw this film at the AFI Film Festival a couple of months ago and it stayed with me since then. This is not your typical war movie, nor is it your typical animated film. I'd say its kind of a cross between Waking Life and Grave of the Fireflies.

    The film takes place in the present. The film's director, Ari Folman, comes to the realization that he cannot remember anything from the time he served in the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon War. The bulk of the movie are his interviews with his old army friends where he asks them what they remember from that time. Folman tries to see in their memories something in himself that has been missing, deadened, or dulled. Like Waking Life, there is no "plot." The filmmaker prefers a more interview-based film. This is an "idea film," a poetic film, and traditional narrative style takes a back seat.

    Like Grave of the Fireflies, the animation in Waltz With Bashir shows the horror of war and its effect on individuals in ways that a live action recreation could never replicate. The film's themes of human memory and its elasticity are served well by this technique. Rather than a soldier escaping death by hiding in the sea, we get the larger-than-life memory of a soldier escaping death that would look too "real" in a live action reenactment.


  • Quotes: Boaz Rein-Buskila: Do you ever have flashbacks from Lebanon? Ari Folman: No. No, not really. Ari Folman: Shoot!
  • Also known as: Waltz with Bashir (Argentina - festival title), Waltz with Bashir (Germany - imdb display title), Waltz with Bashir (International - English title), Waltz with Bashir (Sweden), Waltz with Bashir (UK), Waltz with Bashir (USA), Vals con Bashir (Argentina - imdb display title), Vals con Bashir (Mexico), Vals con Bashir (Spain - imdb display title), Valsa com Bashir (Brazil - festival title), Valsa com Bashir (Brazil - imdb display title), Вальс с Баширом (Russia), A Valsa com Bashir (Portugal), Besir'le Vals (Turkey - Turkish title), Libanoni keringő (Hungary), Valcík s Basírem (Czech Republic), Valcík s Basírom (Slovakia), Valcer s Bashirom (Croatia), Vals me ton Bashir (Greece - festival title), Vals med Bashir (Norway - imdb display title), Valse avec Bachir (France), Valzer con Bashir (Italy), Walc z Baszirem (Poland),

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