Tel Aviv On Fire

If politics in the United States has taught us anything about the conflicts of other nations, it's that war is not a constant battle. The bloodiest rivalries are not all guns and explosions and well-defined enemies. A lot of epic misunderstandings persist because people live in a bubble. We see politics from one point of view and overlook the nuances.

"Tel Aviv on Fire" satirizes the conflict in the Middle-East by showing us people whose lives are dominated by politics but fundamentally don't care much about it.

Salam (Kais Nashif) works as a low-level production assistant on a soap opera underwritten by rather biased Palestinians. His uncle, the producer, got Salam the job because Salam has a good Israeli accent, so he can look for mistakes the performers may make. But when Salam starts not only correcting the dialect of the actors but the dialogue of the writers, he begins to piss off his superiors. Luckily, the lead actress, a prestigious French celebrity, takes a shine to the ambitious production assistant.

With a little fame and prestige under his belt – (after all, he does end up writing one line for this popular TV show) – Salam begins to brag. But he brags to the wrong person, Asi Tsur (Yaniv Bitton) an Israeli checkpoint officer. And he gets himself into a pickle of lies that he has to talk his way out.

The Palestinian producers want one thing, his new Israeli friend wants another and the French actress wants something altogether different than the others. Everyone has an agenda and no one can resolve the issue. But since this is a comedy this particular conflict in the Middle East will eventually work itself out.

Though this film comes off like a cross between "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Soapdish," it remains grounded in a very serious political conflict. And nothing annunciates the absurdities of war like the melodramatic romances of daytime television.

Nashif, who won the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival for this role, effortlessly commands the screen. His achingly subtle performance is a study in deadpan humor, anchoring the broadly comic performances of the characters around him and contrasting the over-the-top acting style of the soap opera.

This Blu-ray includes a "Conversation at The Quad" with director Sameh Zoabi.

"Tel Aviv on Fire"
Blu-ray $30.99
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