It's strange to say I enjoyed Waltz with Bashir, given its disturbing subject and the treacherous path it takes to revealing the horrors of war, but the aspects of its approach made for a captivating experience. The movie is technically a documentary, wherein the director, Ari Folman, initiates an investigation into his own memory. He was once a young soldier in the 1982 Lebanon War, which culminated in the Sabra and Shatila massacre -- yet he has virtually no memory of his participation. He sets off to interview his fellow soldiers at the time, starting with the one who appears in a dream of the massacre that he counts as his only "memory." And there's a further intriguing device: the movie is animated.

The creativity doesn't stop there. The animation retains a hand-drawn look yet distinctly uses computerized movements that might best be described as similar to Flash animation, but it feels more detailed than that. While using bold lines and even bolder colors, the animation strives for an unreal look that replicates dream-like states. This serves to make Waltz with Bashir an extremely surreal experience. As the animated Folman talks with different people -- friends, a psychologist, ex-infantry men, and a reporter -- their reminiscences are given life in what I would claim to be the most expressive way possible. Violence and sex also play major parts as Folman uses the medium to further unravel the events that occurred in his life during that time.

As the players of Waltz with Bashir ruminate on the nature of war, youth, and memory itself, the movie steadily reveals itself to be about trauma. Many of the interviewees had near-death experiences, or have encountered such violence that their repercussions are still felt in their adult lives. As Folman continues his investigation, the stories come together to form a tapestry of shared trauma, of the indelible effects war has on every participant. Those effects are so profound they transcend the borders of ethnicity or belief that usually start wars in the first place. In a way, the movie could've been about any war.

Animation turns out to be the perfect medium to show this aspect of the story. It's used to create and build that shared experience, making it tangible to the people who are here to listen to the stories. Folman uses a large range of expression within his animation -- he illustrates dreams and nightmares and recreates real-world scenarios. Darkness and suspense are mixed with surprising humor as well as an engaging soundtrack in many instances, and all the while the visual style and motion enhance a sense of displacement. It transports the viewer to a strange world both familiar and terrifying. It's an outstanding marriage of form and content.

But is the animation also desensitizing? The answer may indeed be a purposeful "yes"; after all, Folman's own trauma comes in the form of his absent memory. The terror and violence of his experiences have been kept at a distance where they can no longer directly affect him, so if there's a video game-like quality to the depictions of soldiers getting killed and vehicles blowing up, it would indeed be deliberate. But once in a while, the approach switches to present a dreadful horror -- one particular instance involves a photographer who kept the reality of the war at bay until he happened upon a group of dead and dying horses. It is a searing image and a demonstration of the film's creative potential.

At the end of Waltz with Bashir, one more trick is pulled from its sleeve, and although the sights are shocking, one leaves marveling at the overall achievement of using animation in this manner, to put a face on a particular war, a particular massacre, and at the same time make its effects universal to all.

(Released by Sony Pictures Classics and rated "R" for some disturbing images of atrocities, strong violence, brief nudity and a scene of graphic sexual content.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com