Waltz With Bashir (Blu-ray)

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Video:
For a film that used 35mm digital processes, "Waltz with Bashir" has a surprising amount of grit and grain--not an oppressive amount, mind you, and nothing that opens the door to noise, but enough to notice. I never saw the film in theaters and so I can't say whether it's an artistic decision or if the AVC/MPEG-4 transfer was made using film elements instead of the original digital elements. But already I'm making too big of a deal out of it. The visuals are stunning, the colors are true, flesh tones on the figures look accurate, and the little grit and grain seems fully compatible with the images themselves. Black levels are strong and the level of detail is very good, though it won't blow you away the way that some of the Disney Blu-rays do, and that's partly because it lacks that plasticine sheen and partly because of the deliberately inconsistent use of depth or dimensionality. "Waltz with Bashir" is presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:
The featured soundtrack is a Hebrew Dolby TrueHD 5.1, with an option in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 for those who prefer dubbed versions. Subtitles are in English and English SDH. It's a fairly dynamic audio, with all seven channels used and a nice wide spread across the front speakers. Even the static sequences with people sitting around talking have an audio dynamism that delivers clear and crisp notes in low, mid, and high ranges.

Extras:
Usually there aren't many extras in the Sony Classics series, but this one comes with a couple of goodies. Some of the issues I've contemplated are addressed in the commentary by Folman, who says he's not sure if he can go back to making live-action films after this experience. The commentary is full-length, but Folman probably could have said all he had to say in a 20-minute interview. It's the best bonus feature. I would have preferred a full interview to the heavily edited Q&A session with Folman after a screening at one of the festivals. This feature only runs just under 10 minutes, but whoever edited it should have a scissors taken to their credit cards so they know how it feels to see things cut up. It's really butchered. "Surreal Soldiers: Making Waltz with Bashir" describes the animation processes used to achieve those one-dimensional results I described, and we hear from a number of artists and animators who talk about their roles. This was another feature that, at 12 minutes, felt as if it should have been twice as long. One of the more fascinating of the bonus features is "Building the Scene: Animantics," which shows how four scenes were constructed a layer at a time. Given the film's strong visual style this turned out to be my favorite feature. Rounding out the bonus features is a trailer, and, of course, this Blu-ray is BD-Live enabled.

Bottom Line:
"Waltz with Bashir" was the first animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Folman uses animation to tell a story that he quite possibly couldn't have told using live-action. It's distinctive, accomplished, and visually inspired. And while the ending seemed facile and tacked-on, "Waltz with Bashir" remains worthy of its nomination.

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