Tel Aviv on Fire

I really enjoyed this movie. I was laughing all over the cinema. The idea of this movie was great, the actors were good, story was good and ending was hilarious. I really recommend this movie for all comedy fans.

A fairly lighthearted but insightful look at life of the middle-class in Jerusalem and Ramallah-- as seen by having a Palestinian screenwriter who lives in Jerusalem travel to work in Ramallah and his daily interactions with the Israeli border-patrol chief..

The film is a little slow, and the main character is made out to be a little too dull, however on the whole the film has a charm and addresses a subject rarely broached. It's an interestingly balanced portrayal of the people on both sides caught in the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As characters in this film, both the Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian film makers are more human than political agents, and yet both are rooted in their respective historical contexts making it hard to get to the next level of cooperation with each other. The film plays around with alternate narratives.

The film writer/director is actually an Israeli Palestinian, giving the film much authenticity.

The laid back subtle and satirical humor is mostly effective here. Somehow, Sameh Zoab, director and co-writer with Don Kleinman, pulls it off despite all the political turmoil that has encased the region for so long now.

The acting is first rate as well, and I thought the surprise and clever ending enhanced the movie. Overall, quite the engaging surprise with its positive message.

Tel Aviv on Fire is a jubilant comedy about Israel and Palestine, grazing the absurd on serious subjects. The interactions between the different characters from either Israel or Palestine are a veritable delight. The movie Tel Aviv on Fire is about the shooting of an eponymous soap opera, a kind of an imaginary remake of the pathetic and immortal The Young and the Restless (1973), taking place in Tel Aviv and dealing with love between Israelis and Palestinians, during the Six-Day War, with spies, double agents, generals, terrorists and tutti quanti.

The movie is essentially based on these three characters: 1) Tala is the lead actress within the soap opera, coming from France. She is a middle-aged starlet, a seductive and manipulative woman, and regularly gazes at her own navel. She is played by Lubna Azabal, moving and sublime in Incendies (2010). 2) Salam is a somewhat clumsy but endearing man who, thanks to a happy combination of circumstances, will be promoted co-scriptwriter on the series. Of course, as human as he is, he will use his new position, a bit for himself, in order to win back his beloved darling. 3) Assi is a guard at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah, and is terribly imbued with his person to a point that makes him hilarious. His megalomania allows him to interfere in writing the script!

This movie is definitely a must see: the trio Lubna Azabal, Kais Nashif and Yaniv Biton is a 'bomb' (an absurd and two-penny joke, freely inspired from the movie).

"Tel Aviv on Fire" is an instant classic. I didn't think a comedy that revolves around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was possible but Sameh Zoabi pulled it off. That is not to say that the movie downplays the suffering and struggles of everyday life there, it is clear as day on the screen. But even the darkest of situations requires a sense of humor and perhaps humor can be the first step towards peace.