The Bubble
Directed by Eytan Fox
The whole idea that Israelis and Palestinians can hang out in the Middle East without running into some kind of conflict is bullshit. Eytan Fox knows that, keenly highlighting the impossibility in his tempestuous romantic comedy The Bubble. Fox combines a sitcom premise with authentic peril: Young Tel Aviv residents lead normal lives, finding time for parties and rock music in between governmental responsibilities like security detail—specifically, in the leading man’s case, stopping
Palestinians in transit to ensure that they don’t blow themselves up.
But when gay soldier Noam (Ohad Knoller) locks eyes with a traveling Arab named Ashraf (Yousef “Joe” Sweid) at a checkpoint, the dashing young man shows up at the off-duty soldier’s doorstep sans a work permit, and their ensuing sexual encounter solidifies his presence. This doesn’t quite settle with Noam’s roommates, drama queen Yali (Alonn Friedman) and pretty soap vendor-turned-activist Lulu (Daniela Wircer). Make way for double entendres gone wild: “Are we going to keep him in the closet?” snipes Yali, who subsequently wonders aloud about the afterlife of a gay suicide bomber. “Seventy virgin twinks or 70 virgin hunks?” It’s the metropolitan Generation X framework of Friends transplanted into an ideological tempest.
As a director, Fox often uses contradictions as storytelling devices. The romance between two male soldiers in 2002’s Yossi & Jagger portrays the scenario in a positive light, but doesn’t support its odds. The Mossad agent in the 2004 thriller Walk on Water intends to exploit the children of a Nazi refugee, but refuses to confront his own cultural biases. In Bubble, the paradox stems from Noam’s willingness to serve his country while simultaneously harboring opposition to its policies.
The central triangle of characters—and the introduction of Ashraf that causes things to go awry—sustain the endearing babble (or is it Babel?) in Bubble. Fox upholds the dynamic with an ear for camaraderie not unlike that of Richard Linklater. Unlike Linklater, however, Fox is working in a part of the world generally perceived in these parts as a war zone. Rather than dismantle that perception, Fox deconstructs it (showing us a group of regular dudes and chicks), then deepens it (exploring the way that generic Israeli-Palestinian tensions affect citizens on a personal level). You won’t find that social conduit on CNN.
Fox certainly has an agenda larger than this. The protagonists, despite their flaws, combine into a reasonably eloquent mouthpiece for his concerns. The intended realism succeeds as long as you can empathize with their plucky liberal mentalities. A scene following Lulu through the streets of Tel Aviv, handing out fliers for “a rave against the occupation,” grows exceedingly awkward when older locals initiate argumentation. The incident almost seems like Fox’s way of confronting audience members perturbed by his radicalism.
Lefty sentiments notwithstanding, The Bubble ends up reasonably balanced. The plot follows ordinary people chained to a troubled existence. Their particular normality emphasizes the larger socio-political clash. In conversation, the characters ponder their conundrums in existential terms. Their trendy neighborhood is nicknamed “the bubble,” one person explains, “because nothing here is real.”
“Kibbutz life is a bubble, too,” counters Lulu.
The prejudice is in the eye of the beholder, but no matter where you fall, Bubble strains credibility when a suicide bomber enters the story from an unlikely direction. Nevertheless, by exploring both sides of the Semitic playing field, Bubble is the antidote to unrewarding diatribes like Paradise Now—although its final verdict is equally pessimistic.
Directed by Eytan Fox
The whole idea that Israelis and Palestinians can hang out in the Middle East without running into some kind of conflict is bullshit. Eytan Fox knows that, keenly highlighting the impossibility in his tempestuous romantic comedy The Bubble. Fox combines a sitcom premise with authentic peril: Young Tel Aviv residents lead normal lives, finding time for parties and rock music in between governmental responsibilities like security detail—specifically, in the leading man’s case, stopping
Palestinians in transit to ensure that they don’t blow themselves up.
But when gay soldier Noam (Ohad Knoller) locks eyes with a traveling Arab named Ashraf (Yousef “Joe” Sweid) at a checkpoint, the dashing young man shows up at the off-duty soldier’s doorstep sans a work permit, and their ensuing sexual encounter solidifies his presence. This doesn’t quite settle with Noam’s roommates, drama queen Yali (Alonn Friedman) and pretty soap vendor-turned-activist Lulu (Daniela Wircer). Make way for double entendres gone wild: “Are we going to keep him in the closet?” snipes Yali, who subsequently wonders aloud about the afterlife of a gay suicide bomber. “Seventy virgin twinks or 70 virgin hunks?” It’s the metropolitan Generation X framework of Friends transplanted into an ideological tempest.
As a director, Fox often uses contradictions as storytelling devices. The romance between two male soldiers in 2002’s Yossi & Jagger portrays the scenario in a positive light, but doesn’t support its odds. The Mossad agent in the 2004 thriller Walk on Water intends to exploit the children of a Nazi refugee, but refuses to confront his own cultural biases. In Bubble, the paradox stems from Noam’s willingness to serve his country while simultaneously harboring opposition to its policies.
The central triangle of characters—and the introduction of Ashraf that causes things to go awry—sustain the endearing babble (or is it Babel?) in Bubble. Fox upholds the dynamic with an ear for camaraderie not unlike that of Richard Linklater. Unlike Linklater, however, Fox is working in a part of the world generally perceived in these parts as a war zone. Rather than dismantle that perception, Fox deconstructs it (showing us a group of regular dudes and chicks), then deepens it (exploring the way that generic Israeli-Palestinian tensions affect citizens on a personal level). You won’t find that social conduit on CNN.
Fox certainly has an agenda larger than this. The protagonists, despite their flaws, combine into a reasonably eloquent mouthpiece for his concerns. The intended realism succeeds as long as you can empathize with their plucky liberal mentalities. A scene following Lulu through the streets of Tel Aviv, handing out fliers for “a rave against the occupation,” grows exceedingly awkward when older locals initiate argumentation. The incident almost seems like Fox’s way of confronting audience members perturbed by his radicalism.
Lefty sentiments notwithstanding, The Bubble ends up reasonably balanced. The plot follows ordinary people chained to a troubled existence. Their particular normality emphasizes the larger socio-political clash. In conversation, the characters ponder their conundrums in existential terms. Their trendy neighborhood is nicknamed “the bubble,” one person explains, “because nothing here is real.”
“Kibbutz life is a bubble, too,” counters Lulu.
The prejudice is in the eye of the beholder, but no matter where you fall, Bubble strains credibility when a suicide bomber enters the story from an unlikely direction. Nevertheless, by exploring both sides of the Semitic playing field, Bubble is the antidote to unrewarding diatribes like Paradise Now—although its final verdict is equally pessimistic.
