i've been too busy to see much of anything at the philadelphia international gay and lesbian film festival this past week, but yesterday i did manage to catch the bubble (imdb).
every year there is a gay pride parade in jerusalem. and every year the orthodox jewish authorities join with the muslim religious leaders to try to stop the parade. and every year someone jokes that maybe gay bashing in the one thing that can finally bring these people together. alas, the spirit of togetherness never seems to last much beyond the gay pride event.
"the bubble" (that's "ha-buah" not that soderbergh film) tries out the gay solution from a different angle. it tells the tale of an israeli-palestinian relationship. noah, the israeli, meets ashraf at a military checkpoint as ashraf is crossing into israel from the west bank. later noah helps ashraf pose as an israeli jew, giving him a hebrew name and helping him get a job at a restaurant where his friend works. ashraf joins noah's friends in the subculture of the israeli left, where political activity consists of organizing a "rave against the occupation" on a beach. meanwhile, ashraf has a life back in the west bank, where he's well closeted, his sister is getting married to a hamas commander, and he is being pressured to marry one of the commander's relatives. ashraf struggles to cross between the two worlds which eventually leads to the ending that i won't spoil.
so if gay hate isn't the answer to the palestinian-israeli conflict, is gay love? the answer, according to "the bubble" is no. the very last line of the film makes it clear that the filmmaker is saying that cross-cultural romance is not enough to bridge the divide. indeed as noah and ashraf's relationship develops, relations between the palestinians and israelis go downhill, resulting in the death and maiming of people close to both of the lovers.
i went into this film with og's comments in mind, expecting there to be a "make love not war" message. in fact, i think the film's message is the opposite. the title itself suggests that the israelis are cut off from the suffering of palestinians, living in an unreal bubble of parties and love when there is poverty and suffering all around them. the main characters may believe in "make love not war" but events contradict what they are doing. the "rave against the occupation" does nothing to end the occupation. in fact, it is immediately followed by a military offensive in the west bank. and one character, a racist who doesn't like arabs, shows up at the rave just because he thinks it will be a good party. the main characters are sympathetic and you wish that everyone was like them. but not everyone is like them. the message of the film seems to be that because of that they are doomed to failure.
i did like "the bubble" a lot. but that doesn't mean it didn't have problems. ashraf crosses back and forth between israel and the west bank quite often, with much more ease than a real palestinian could do (especially considering that he doesn't have the proper papers to be in tel aviv, that's why they have to make him seem to be an israeli) there's also a bit of geographical confusion. we're told that ashraf's sister is in amman, jordan and will travel to nablus for her wedding. then we see her crossing at the very same checkpoint as the israeli characters as they travel from tel aviv to nablus. they're coming from opposite directions, so why are they crossing at the same place? did she fly to tel aviv just to cross back? finally, the hamas characters are wearing uniforms with fatah insignias. but to be honest, i'm not sure if i would have noticed if og hadn't mentioned them in his comment.
in any case, inaccuracies like that didn't really bother me. they took me out of the film only briefly and i was quickly sucked back in by the charm of the characters. for such a good-hearted film, the message is a bit depressing. it presents a difficult situation and provides no solution at all. and i think that reflects the prevailing sentiment in israel right now. if nothing else the film is an interesting testament to the disillusionment that currently prevails there.
