Knight at the Movies Archives
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A peek into gay life inside the Mid East, a hearty western
Writer-director Eytan Fox and his co-writer, producer and life partner Gal Uchovsky continue to chronicle gay life in modern day Israel
in their third film collaboration, The Bubble. I’m still raving about their previous effort, 2004’s Walk on Water, the story of a straight
Mossad agent who comes to term with his homophobia and racial bias. That movie, which also included a thriller subplot that
centered on tracking down a Nazi criminal was a lot more complicated than either this new picture or their first feature collaboration,
2002’s Yossi & Jagger. But all three movies share the same hallmarks – they’re terrifically entertaining and given their location with
its inherent, ongoing political strife, are given added depth that makes them resonate long after they’re over.
“The Bubble” refers to Tel Aviv, a cosmopolitan city that has gotten the nickname because for many of its citizens it seems to exist
apart from the political unrest surrounding it. Three of those citizens are Noam (Ohad Knoller) and Yali (Alon Friedmann), two gay
men who live with a third roommate, the feisty and sultry Lulu (Daniela Wircer) who is constantly finding love with the wrong man.
Noam, a would-be writer, spends some of his weekends on checkpoint patrol as a member of the National Guard and works in a
record store while Yali manages a café owned by two lesbians. Lulu also works in retail and dreams of becoming an actress. The
three 20-somethings chatter about the latest episode of the Israeli version of “American Idol,” their latest crushes, where to hold the
next rave, etc. – pretty much everything that leaves politics out of the equation.
But politics arrives on their doorstep, literally, in the person of Ashraf (Yousef ‘Joe’ Sweid) a young Palestinian who returns Noam’s
wallet after Noam has lost it during one of his stints on checkpoint patrol. Just at that moment Lulu is awaiting the arrival of her
latest boyfriend, Sharon (Oded Leopold), a Time Out editor who she’s decided has waited long enough to have his way with her. An
attraction between Noam and Ashraf is immediately apparent. “So that’s how Jews kiss,” Ashraf says after he and Noam do just
that. Later, after a first round of lovemaking on a rooftop, Noam replies, “So that’s how Arabs do it.”
Fox cross-cuts the sex scene of Noam and Ashraf with Lulu and Sharon, giving us a double tryst, straight and gay, between the two
couples that’s very sexy. Noam then invites Ashraf to move in temporarily and entreats Yali to give him a job at the café. They
insist that Ashraf pretend to be Israeli to avoid problems and then indoctrinate him into their fun loving life style. One night they’re
nightclubbing, the next visiting a gay cabaret, on the third Noam and Ashraf attend a production of “Bent.” But when Sharon
recognizes Ashraf as a Palestinian and asks him point blank about it one day at the café, Ashraf, who is in the country illegally,
takes off in terror of being arrested as a suspected terrorist. On a whim, Lulu and Noam decide to cross the border, posing as a
French reporter and cameraman, to visit him and make sure he’s okay.
During the visit things escalate and at this point both get a wake up call that moves the movie from a breezy romantic dramedy into
a political melodrama. It’s to the credit of Fox and Uchovsky, who did much the same thing in Walk on Water that the change in tone
doesn’t completely negate what has gone on before. But the melodramatic excesses of the script at this point, while certainly
entertaining, do seem to stretch credibility. It would have been more interesting but much less dramatic to have gone with a
different non-resolution for the gay couple. There must be hundreds of Israeli-Palestinian lovers, straight and gay, who have to deal
with the impact of the Mid-East conflict on their relationships. By going the melodramatic route for the last quarter of the movie Fox
and Uchovsky turn their movie into more of a tragic gay version of “Romeo & Jules” and less an entertaining slice of life variation on
“Three’s Company,” Israeli-style. Surprisingly, I wanted more of the latter. I wanted to stay inside The Bubble for the duration –
visiting this rarely glimpsed world that seems so closely and somehow desperately patterned after ours – yet so far away from it. The
Bubble plays exclusively at Chicago’s Landmark Century Centre Cinema.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Earlier this summer, a resounding return of the musical occurred with Hairspray, now the western comes galloping back in with 3:10
to Yuma, a beauty of the genre with another star performance by Russell Crowe. Crowe plays a viscous outlaw who nevertheless
speaks beautifully, sketches to pass the time away, is irresistible to the ladies, and is polite and gracious for the most part. He’s
like a Wild West version of Hannibal Lector – a lethal lothario – who somehow connects with the plight of Christian Bale, a one-
legged former Civil War soldier turned cattle rancher who is down on his luck in his eyes and those of his wife and two sons. The
rancher is charged with delivering the outlaw to a train that will take him to prison and collect a fat reward but before he can do that,
of course, the rancher will just about have to go through hell in order to succeed – not the least of which will be an endless battle of
wits and brawn with the outlaw.
3:10 to Yuma is director James Mangold’s remake of a 50 year-old movie and works because like its predecessor, it relies first and
foremost on expert, compelling storytelling, the basis of any movie that hopes to stand the test of time. The bravura performances
of the cast (aside from Crowe and Bale, Ben Foster who played the misunderstood, coded gay mutant with the angel wings in X Men:
The Last Stand is a standout) and the breathtaking location cinematography help this old fashioned, entertaining western kick off a
great start to the fall movie season.
in their third film collaboration, The Bubble. I’m still raving about their previous effort, 2004’s Walk on Water, the story of a straight
Mossad agent who comes to term with his homophobia and racial bias. That movie, which also included a thriller subplot that
centered on tracking down a Nazi criminal was a lot more complicated than either this new picture or their first feature collaboration,
2002’s Yossi & Jagger. But all three movies share the same hallmarks – they’re terrifically entertaining and given their location with
its inherent, ongoing political strife, are given added depth that makes them resonate long after they’re over.
“The Bubble” refers to Tel Aviv, a cosmopolitan city that has gotten the nickname because for many of its citizens it seems to exist
apart from the political unrest surrounding it. Three of those citizens are Noam (Ohad Knoller) and Yali (Alon Friedmann), two gay
men who live with a third roommate, the feisty and sultry Lulu (Daniela Wircer) who is constantly finding love with the wrong man.
Noam, a would-be writer, spends some of his weekends on checkpoint patrol as a member of the National Guard and works in a
record store while Yali manages a café owned by two lesbians. Lulu also works in retail and dreams of becoming an actress. The
three 20-somethings chatter about the latest episode of the Israeli version of “American Idol,” their latest crushes, where to hold the
next rave, etc. – pretty much everything that leaves politics out of the equation.
But politics arrives on their doorstep, literally, in the person of Ashraf (Yousef ‘Joe’ Sweid) a young Palestinian who returns Noam’s
wallet after Noam has lost it during one of his stints on checkpoint patrol. Just at that moment Lulu is awaiting the arrival of her
latest boyfriend, Sharon (Oded Leopold), a Time Out editor who she’s decided has waited long enough to have his way with her. An
attraction between Noam and Ashraf is immediately apparent. “So that’s how Jews kiss,” Ashraf says after he and Noam do just
that. Later, after a first round of lovemaking on a rooftop, Noam replies, “So that’s how Arabs do it.”
Fox cross-cuts the sex scene of Noam and Ashraf with Lulu and Sharon, giving us a double tryst, straight and gay, between the two
couples that’s very sexy. Noam then invites Ashraf to move in temporarily and entreats Yali to give him a job at the café. They
insist that Ashraf pretend to be Israeli to avoid problems and then indoctrinate him into their fun loving life style. One night they’re
nightclubbing, the next visiting a gay cabaret, on the third Noam and Ashraf attend a production of “Bent.” But when Sharon
recognizes Ashraf as a Palestinian and asks him point blank about it one day at the café, Ashraf, who is in the country illegally,
takes off in terror of being arrested as a suspected terrorist. On a whim, Lulu and Noam decide to cross the border, posing as a
French reporter and cameraman, to visit him and make sure he’s okay.
During the visit things escalate and at this point both get a wake up call that moves the movie from a breezy romantic dramedy into
a political melodrama. It’s to the credit of Fox and Uchovsky, who did much the same thing in Walk on Water that the change in tone
doesn’t completely negate what has gone on before. But the melodramatic excesses of the script at this point, while certainly
entertaining, do seem to stretch credibility. It would have been more interesting but much less dramatic to have gone with a
different non-resolution for the gay couple. There must be hundreds of Israeli-Palestinian lovers, straight and gay, who have to deal
with the impact of the Mid-East conflict on their relationships. By going the melodramatic route for the last quarter of the movie Fox
and Uchovsky turn their movie into more of a tragic gay version of “Romeo & Jules” and less an entertaining slice of life variation on
“Three’s Company,” Israeli-style. Surprisingly, I wanted more of the latter. I wanted to stay inside The Bubble for the duration –
visiting this rarely glimpsed world that seems so closely and somehow desperately patterned after ours – yet so far away from it. The
Bubble plays exclusively at Chicago’s Landmark Century Centre Cinema.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Earlier this summer, a resounding return of the musical occurred with Hairspray, now the western comes galloping back in with 3:10
to Yuma, a beauty of the genre with another star performance by Russell Crowe. Crowe plays a viscous outlaw who nevertheless
speaks beautifully, sketches to pass the time away, is irresistible to the ladies, and is polite and gracious for the most part. He’s
like a Wild West version of Hannibal Lector – a lethal lothario – who somehow connects with the plight of Christian Bale, a one-
legged former Civil War soldier turned cattle rancher who is down on his luck in his eyes and those of his wife and two sons. The
rancher is charged with delivering the outlaw to a train that will take him to prison and collect a fat reward but before he can do that,
of course, the rancher will just about have to go through hell in order to succeed – not the least of which will be an endless battle of
wits and brawn with the outlaw.
3:10 to Yuma is director James Mangold’s remake of a 50 year-old movie and works because like its predecessor, it relies first and
foremost on expert, compelling storytelling, the basis of any movie that hopes to stand the test of time. The bravura performances
of the cast (aside from Crowe and Bale, Ben Foster who played the misunderstood, coded gay mutant with the angel wings in X Men:
The Last Stand is a standout) and the breathtaking location cinematography help this old fashioned, entertaining western kick off a
great start to the fall movie season.
Culture Clash:
The Bubble-3:10 to Yuma
Expanded Edition of 9-5-07 Windy City Times Knight at the Movies Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
The Bubble-3:10 to Yuma
Expanded Edition of 9-5-07 Windy City Times Knight at the Movies Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
