Is that relevant? I don't know; that probably depends on your definition of "truth." The stories from the war actually took place, they just don't necessarily go together, and don't necessarily fit with Ari's life in such a neat, pat, manner. Plus, as I indicated above, the film is animated, which, for some, may hurt its truth claim.
As for the animation, it's absolutely brilliant and completely unique. It may look a little like rotoscoping, but in one of the behind the scenes featurettes, an animator is quite clear about the fact that it isn't, everything in the film (save the last few live actions shots) is in fact fully animated. Several of the featurettes deal with the construction of the film and the animation (there is also a Q&A with Ari Folman). The entire piece was actually filmed first and then edited. Storyboards were made from that, those were then roughly animated, and then the final film's animation was done on computer using the rough animatics as a guide. The final result is a completely different visual look for the piece, one that is cartoony and stylized, but real in an oddly disturbing way.
Sadly, the Blu-ray release of the film doesn't do the actual animation any favors, as the many night scenes appear terribly grainy. Additionally, the live action footage at the end of the film was clearly not shot in high definition (it is too old for that), and doesn't look particularly good when upconverted. Both the Hebrew and English audio tracks for the main feature are far better than the video. The sound is crisp and clear and even some of the more difficult accents completely intelligible.
Waltz with Bashir represents not just a brilliant achievement in terms of animation, but it tells a fascinating story – set of stories – about war and responsibility and action and inaction. It is an examination of a what people do during war, what they forget, and where war leaves the survivors. It is a powerful and wonderfully interesting film.
Is it true? Is it documentary?
There's truth in it certainly, there's documentary in it. Does the rest matter?
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