30 Animated Movies That Are Not for Children

In times like these, it can be hard to have any sympathy for the Israeli Defense Forces, and yet Ari Folman’s war animation docufiction Waltz With Bashir offers space for common ground and exposes a rare vein of remorse from certain ex-IDF soldiers.

Folman himself is the main character of the film, struck by a nightmare in which rabid dogs hunt him through the streets of Tel Aviv. From this, he finds himself on a journey to recover his memories of his part in the Lebanese Civil War, and particularly the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese Shia civilians were slaughtered in Beirut at the hands of the Israeli-backed Christian Lebanese militias and the IDF.

A combination of cut-outs and classic animation, Waltz With Bashir creates its own versions of the various conflicts in the war, and the men who were there, backing it all up with present-day interview audio of the people Folman knew and fought alongside, recounting their triumphs and horrors. Far from taking the edge off, the animation heightens the impact of the killings and brutality, painting it in plain terms and bold colours that leave few details to our imagination.

While not everyone Folman speaks to is remorseful, many of them are, and many reflect with sorrow on what happened and how the war changed them for the worse. A prescient message in 2006, which has only become relevant today.