It is rare I find a film so inspirational that I want to blog it on an overwhelmingly literary blog, but Waltz with Bashir is that inspirational and more.

I could prattle on about the films importance in the current world situation, with Israel beginning the withdrawal of its forces from yet another war.  I could go on about how the film reminds us that Jewish fundamentalism, like its fundamentalist counterparts in Islam and Christianity, are do not represent the only story.  That the stories of moderation in each of these communities offer a way in, a new “road map” that might result in something closer to the peace we dream of.  Or that it is the best animated film I’ve seen, and one of three fantastic films I’ve had the chance to see at the Dukes, Lancaster in the past few weeks.

No, what I want to talk about is its design.  The opening scene coloured (I want to say shot) in hot yellows and cool greys  sets you up for a journey into hallucination and dream.  The fabulously dream-like muted colours  contrast perfectly with the  exceptional whites and brights of the domestic or non-war, scenes.  The magnificent angels and piercing  gold flares lighting up the refugee camps add a wonder and terror in equal measures.  The film is so wonderfully  coloured and designed you easily forget both that this is animation – and not smooth animation at that – and that it is documentary.  Characters are often drawn flat, but the city-scapes in surprising 3-d.  The style draws heavily on graphic novels and should remind us of the importance of both the style and genre in today’s culture, a fact missed by many of us over 30.  Look around your bookstores and find the influence more on the covers of mainstream literature and in design books than on the shelves.  Hell look at the current Litfest Design.

I agree with Mark Kermode that Waltz with Bashir could, or should be, an Oscar winner, though I disagree with his opinion on the way it ends.

(See it at the Dukes Saturday 24, though if they have any sense at all, they’ll bring it back post Oscars.)