Waltz With Bashir (DVD)

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Aside from a tacked-on ending that feels gratuitous and just a little facile, that's my only complaint about this otherwise accomplished film. There are times when it felt as if an inspired visual style was overcompensating for uninspired writing. That said, "Waltz with Bashir" is still a powerful film, and maybe what I just said isn't all that negative. Maybe that's the gap that future filmmakers can shoot, the areas in which a strong animated style changes the rules for live-action storytelling. This is shot in documentary style, complete with identifiers on-screen when we're introduced to a new character and with datelines and places in subscript, and it's much more interesting that if we had been watching Folman in the flesh chatting with all of his friends. Animation also softens the transitions from the present to dreams or the flashback past.

Video:
As with the Blu-ray, there's a slight amount of grain throughout, and a little noise in some of the backgrounds, but compared to other DVDs it's a solid picture with vivid colors, true-looking flesh tones, strong shadows and figure delineation, and a nice amount of detail. "Waltz with Bashir" is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen.

Audio:
The featured soundtrack is a Hebrew Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, with a second audio option in English for those who prefer dubbed versions. Subtitles are in English. There's a nice wide spread across the front speakers, and good balance among the dialogue and effects. The bass doesn't have quite the rumble you'd expect at some junctures, but overall it's a nice soundtrack.

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 be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. It's distinctive, it's accomplished, and visually inspired. Despite a tacked-on ending that seems facile, Waltz with Bashir is worthy of the Oscar nomination it received. It's a film you won't forget.

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