Waltz with Bashir

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A few nights ago we were invited to the premiere of the much touted Israeli animated documentary 'Waltz with Bashir' . We arrived early to pick up our tickets but encountered a lengthy queue moving only at a snails pace in the airless corridor outside the Lev Cinema in Dizengoff Centre. While it was diverting to pick out the celebs in the crowd, - famous military correspondent Ron Ben Yishai , talented actess Keren Mor - it didn't make the line move any faster and we soon gave up and peeled off for home.



Last night we paid up and saw the film, without the celebs but including Ron Ben Yishai who actually appears in his own voice but in animated form. 'Waltz with Bashir' (Bashir being Bashir Jamael, the Lebanese Christian President first crowned by Israel only to be assassinated), deals with the quest of the hero, then a young soldier, to remember what he experienced in the first (1982) Lebanon War. It is brilliant and harrowing and knocks you sideways. Worth making the effort if it comes your way. You can get a taste of it at

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