TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

hddu10 More poignant now than ever, Bubble gives the viewers a glimpse into the realities of residents of Israel's cultural, business and de facto capital, Tel Aviv. Away (supposedly) from the religious extremism of Jerusalem and other parts of Israel, Tel Aviv is home to a very visible young, counter-culture/hippster community that sees the current conflict as something that can be overcome with solidarity and commonality from both sides. In the case of the main characters, when a Palestinian, Ashraf is inserted into their clique through his relationship with Noah, he is immediately welcomed and helped by the rest of the group, becoming a poster-child for how and why Israelis should be reaching out (even begrudgingly...lest they be seen as hypocrites to their cause). But through several events, we see how disconnected this circle of friends and their ultra-liberal, partying lifestyle has become from people who live just across the border in the occupied territories (i.e. Ramala). While I found the Israeli characters to be believable, I simply did not find the conclusion of Ashraf's character to be...in fact I found it very cliché. As a Palestinian who was a) gay b) not religious c) not political d) had an affinity for Israeli life to the point where he did not speak Hebrew with an Arab accent, I simply did not believe the death of his sister would provoke him to become a suicide bomber...this was my major concern with the film. Meaning, Bubble's message is essentially (like most Israeli films) that behind every Palestinian, regardless of how sympathetic, is a suicide bomber waiting to happen. Good premise...bad execution. Still...high marks for originality for its time.

cowboyandvampire This is a sweet, poignant look at young lives and loves in Tel Aviv and the damning, degrading effects of the political landscape around it. The central characters laughingly call Tel Aviv "the Bubble" because it seems insulated from the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Territories. As the movie brings to light, that is clearly not the case. The hatred, anger, blind violence, "otherization" and decades (centuries?) of mistrust on both sides color everything and everyone the question becomes are they blind to it or just so scarred they can't recognize it.The movie focuses on the relationships — familial, sexual and friendships — between three long-time friends, two gay men and one hetero woman. Their chemistry and crazy lives would make for an entirely enjoyable romantic comedy without the layers of cultural context and history, but with the addition of, it creates a memorable, urgent and rewarding story.When one of the men falls for a gay Palestinian, their bubble is popped irreversibly as they are all forced to confront the realities of life in a region defined — and seemingly sustained by — hatred. And being a gay Palestinian, it would seem, means twice the agony and hardships as there is little tolerance for alternative life styles within that culture and religion. That's less the case in Israel, at least according to the movie.I appreciated the straightforward, unflinching approach the film brought to the love scenes, regardless of orientation. The sex scenes between the men were just as sweet, tentative and passionate — more so in fact — than the sex scenes featuring the girl. Even though the movie is now six years old, this approach resonates with me because same-sex scenes usually lack the same … panache as different-sex scenes, at least in Hollywood style movies. (Hollywood, check the election results and get with the times; love is love).The entire cast was effective, but Daniella Wircer as Lulu was awesome. She had such great energy; truly a rare talent.This is a fine movie and one that, it seems to a westerner, excavates the Israeli/Palestinian conflict effectively and without finger-pointing. It also reminds us that we all have a role to play in ending hatred and cycles of violence.--www.cowboyandvampire.com--

hughman55 You could be forgiven for mistaking this low budget indie for a great film. "The Bubble" centers on two men, Noam and Ashwar, an Israle and Palestinian respectively, who meet, come together, and live a short fairy tale existence in the protective "bubble" of Tel Aviv. Their relationship is complicated by the Middle East tensions that we, in the U.S., have only a cursory knowledge of. Normal couples, in the early stages of their relationships, will struggle with who will call who next, , doubts of sincerity, or who will say "I love you" first. Noam and Ashwar's early love is complicated by suicide bombings, armed security check points, racism, and thousands of years of cultural hatred. While Noam's friends in Tel Aviv accept, and like, Ashwar, who is an Arab, it is clear that most of Tel Aviv's other citizenry don't. Ashwar adopts a Hebrew name, lives as Noam's boyfriend in secret, and works "under the table" at the "friend of a friend's" restaurant. One of the most touching moments in this film, and there are many, is when Noam and Ashwar attend a production of the play "Bent". We, as movie goers, see them watching this play, and the affect it has on the two of them is profoundly captured in their eyes. They watch two concentration camp prisoners, in the play, expressing their love for one another. Noam and Ashwar are prisoners too and the parallels are inescapable. This touching moment is ultimately played out in a very sad way later in the movie.Just as in the Shakespeare classic, the resentments, bodies, and vengeance pile to a crippling height. Without giving away too much of the storyline, one of the men is blackmailed into a collection of choices with no good outcome possible. Behind door number one - marry his brother in-law's sister - at the threat of being exposed as being gay and a social outcast to his family and community. Behind door number two, go back to his boyfriend in Tel Aviv, and a community that will never accept him, and that routinely abuses and discriminates against his people. It doesn't matter how much the one you love, loves you, when the world he live in hates you. And then there's door number three. With this choice he can become a hero instead of an outcast to his father, minimize the retaliation meant to avenge is sister's murder, and make sure that the fatalities are limited to just one. Or so he believes. Ohad Knoller and Youseff 'Joe' Sweid are outstanding as Noam and Ashwar. Director Eytan Fox is brilliant in creating an interesting and compelling retelling of the greatest romantic tragedy. The romance, sexuality, and sensuality are intense and passionate. It is so refreshing to see this kind of depth and honesty attributed to a gay couple. Ivri Lider renders a music score with the perfect touch of conventional romanticism that says, "love is universal". The most powerful force in this film, however, is the performance by Youseff "Joe" Sweid. He roils in the passions of his heart, the thousands of years of cultural hatred, and the calm place in his soul where his love for Noam rests. Sweid, through Ashwar, shows what it's like to have your heart and your life in complete contradiction with one another. He shows what it's like to find peace for the first time and then discover that peace is a lonely place for some. He is the ultimate outcast in an unforgiving, and undeserving, world. This is a very good film. It has heart, and heartbreak. And like all good love stories, love does win out. But not with the intact glory of it's full bloom. Everlasting love is too complicated for that. Still, though, they will be together forever.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This film is a complete re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet in Tel Aviv and Nablus. The lovers are one from Tel Aviv et the other from Nablus. There is a border between them, and a constant state of war with the Israeli army ever present everywhere and the Palestinian militants everywhere else with their bombs. The situation is bleak enough. We can imagine love in that enormous loveless trap. But the film goes several light years further by imagining the two lovers are gay, Noam from Tel Aviv and Ashraf from Nablus. To be gay is accepted in Tel Aviv. It is off limits in Nablus. The conflict between the two peoples, the two communities is thus doubled with a conflict between two cultures, two ethics. But this could even be livable if the war did not bring some extra dimension. Ashraf's sister is going to get married to a militant activist in Nablus. Ashraf finally tells his sister about his being gay. She cannot accept it but accepts to speak about it later. From the wedding itself the newly married husband sends a commando into Tel Aviv to set up a bomb attack. It takes place in a café in Tel Aviv and one friend of Noam's is severely wounded. Bad enough. The Isareli army sends a commando to Nablus to arrest the person responsible for this attack, but it turns sour and the newly married wife is shot dead in the street. The funeral follows the wedding. The husband and widower volunteers for a suicide bomb attack. Ashraf volunteers to take his place. The exiled lover comes back to Tel Aviv to die and kill a few people to avenge his sister. He arrives at a diner managed by some friends of Noam's. But Noam sees him and gets out to speak to him. Ashraf has moved back to the middle of the street and he detonates his bomb when Noam reaches him in the street. The vengeance reunites the two lovers in death. We thus have the dual conflict but we do not have the Prince of Verona, a neutral character that can impose peace, or even worse the Prince seems to have chosen sides and to be on the side of Israel. The game is entirely false and death is sure on both sides. But the dimension of impossible love is all the stronger because it is redoubled by a play in the film, a play that shows love in Auschwitz, between two prisoners, one wearing a yellow star and the other a pink triangle. This is both strikingly strong and breathtakingly shocking: gay love in Auschwitz. What comes out of the film is that over there in Tel Aviv or Nablus love is impossible. The film is thus a denunciation of the conflict in Palestine that cannot but continue though it has no reason to even exist though it has thousands of reasons to go on. We should never have let Great Britain deal with the region a long time ago. Today we have to find a solution in which no one will be humiliated. This will only be able to succeed if everyone comes together in order to find a lasting solution. But so far everyone is trying to avoid that general confrontation and discussion preferring bilateral manipulations. So suffering will go on and love will be forbidden, of course not sex since children are needed for the war to go on: so let's procreate more and more little soldiers. But love is just an extra-terrestrial concept.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne