When political themes and human themes are threaded into a gay love story between a Israeli music store clerk/part time military reservist and Palestinian man a volatile and illuminating piece of film emerges.  The Bubble (2006) fulfills every bit of that expectation.

There is a scene at a border check station where Noam (Ohad Knoller) and Ashraf (Yousef Sweid) meet that is intense and sets the stage for the whole movie. The eggshell tensions between the two nations are played out amongst the people while the first signs of attraction are performing its dance between Noam and Ashraf.  It is one of the best scenes in a move where the conflict in that area of the world is dramatically played out in an every day activity there.

The Tel Aviv gay community becomes a haven for the impossible situation where a Jew and an Arab could take on a gay affair. This is one theme of the Bubble. Immediately you see how these two guys are really fitted for each other and in their story you see how fruitless and wasteful the conflict of their nations has been especially on their young people.   You are drawn into this relationship and realize that if ever there was a Romeo and Juliet story in the making… it was this one.

Ashraf’s sister is marrying a Palestinian militant, a terrorist.  Something happens to her that changes everything. The film drives to a climatic end when political and racial hatreds clashes with the love of two people. Sometimes this world is not good enough for that kind of love.

Rent the movie.