I loved Eytan Fox’s 2002 film Yossi & Jagger, the love story of two Israeli Defense Forces soldiers serving on the Israeli-Lebanese border, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the DVD release of his latest film, The Bubble.

The Bubble follows the lives of a group of young, liberal Israeli friends in Tel Aviv. One of the friends, Noam, falls in love with Ashraf, a Palestinian he met while working at a border crossing. Noam and his friends try to integrate Ashraf into Israeli society, but his Palestinian roots are just too hard to hide. Ashraf returns to Nablus for his sister’s wedding, which just happens to be to a HAMAS militant. The night before the wedding the groom sends a suicide bomber into Tel Aviv, injuring one of Ashraf’s Israeli friends. The IDF retaliates, killing Ashraf’s sister. In despair and knowing he will never be able to spend his life with Noam, Ashraf volunteers to go on the suicide mission to avenge his sisters death. The story only gets more tragic from there.

The film is an amazing love story and brilliantly weaves in the human side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I must admit that I didn’t see the ending coming and quite frankly wish that I had stopped the movie a few minutes earlier.

If you’re looking for an original film and don’t mind reading subtitles (unless you know Hebrew) then The Bubble is a must see. The young cast is fantastic and the film features the music of the talented and upcoming musician Ivri Lider.

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