Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 9, 2019

There’s a time honored tradition in farce, stretching back at least to the venerable days of Feydeau and continuing on through such relatively recent fare as Noises Off..., that includes a lot of doors being slammed. It’s kind of interesting to think about the “dividing lines” doors offer in terms of at least some farce structural proclivities, with different “areas” (typically rooms in a house) providing ample opportunities for interlocked but separate events unspooling simultaneously. Tel Aviv on Fire certainly has a number of farcical elements, but one of its more interesting “updates” is the fact that it substitutes a guarded checkpoint between Israeli and Arab regions for the more often seen doors in many farces. There’s a whole “meta” aspect to Tel Aviv on Fire as well, not the least of which is the fact that the film’s very title is also the name of a soap opera airing on television, in what might be thought of as the Middle Eastern version of a telenovela. The soap opera takes place in the epochal days leading up to the 1967 Arab-Israeli fracas which has become known as the so-called Six Day War, and it involves an Arab woman who is being sent uncover into the “lair” of an Israeli general in order to spy on him. Perhaps surprisingly, Tel Aviv on Fire (the soap opera) is hugely appealing to both Israelis and Arabs, something that head honcho Bassam (Nadim Sawalha), a Palestinian, is only too well aware of. When Bassam brings his oafish and inexperienced nephew Salam (Kais Nashef) on to the production, ostensibly to help with Hebrew pronunciation (which may strike some as at least a little odd, since Salam is also Palestinian), there are unexpected consequences when Salam's "helping hand" (and/or mouth) catches the eye (and/or heart) of leading lady Tala (Lubna Azabal).

Tel Aviv on Fire actually begins with a vignette from the soap opera itself, and the film’s kind of cheeky “insider” humor is on display from the get go when Tala, playing a character named Manal, is informed by her handler (and lover) that she’s been assigned the “perfect Jewish name” of Rachel Ashkenazi for her undercover assignment. In fact, the whole ridiculously overheated ambience of soap operas is one of Tel Aviv on Fire’s most consistent provider of humor, where some of the “outside” material may struggle a bit more to land actual laughs.

A checkpoint at Ramallah becomes the fulcrum upon which much of Tel Aviv on Fire hinges when an innocent comment by Salam gets him hauled out of his car and deposited before Israeli Captain Assi Tzur (Yaniv Biton), who is in charge of the throughway. Salam, obviously nervous that he may be arrested, talks up his involvement with the soap opera, which Tzur claims is a favorite of his wife’s, though there’s the clear subtext that it’s one of his favorites as well. The upshot is that Tzur believes that Salam is the writer for the show, and in fact much of the rest of the film deals with Salam trying to introduce various ideas and plot points, not to mention characterizations, that Tzur starts providing to him.

The basic set up of Tel Aviv on Fire is actually kind of nifty, but the film arguably tries to stuff in a few too many subplots. These include Tzur's home life, the continued trials and tribulations of Salam trying to figure out how to write a soap opera, and Salam's ultimate involvement with an ex-girlfriend (Maisa And Elhadi) who seems shoehorned into the proceedings simply to make Salam's relationship with Tala more problematic. The film delivers a few wry laughs along the way, but unlike the most successful farces, it doesn't really build momentum, and it certainly doesn't lead to a calamitous conclusion so typical of classic farces where a bunch of figurative shoes drop at once.

Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tel Aviv on Fire is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa Mini as having been utilized, and as usual I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. This is a workmanlike looking presentation for the most part, though there are clear and rather nicely rendered differentiations between the "real life" sequences and the soap opera vignettes, with the latter often having a somewhat dewy, even soft focus, appearance, but with much more vivid saturation and, at times anyway, blown out highlights (see screenshots 4 and 7 for a couple of examples). The "non-show" look of the film is decidedly drabber a lot of the time, though detail levels tend to be generally very good throughout the presentation. I noticed no compression anomalies of any note.

Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is another release where our specs, which only allow for one "main" language, don't account for the fact that Tel Aviv on Fire ping pongs between Arabic and Hebrew, delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The film doesn't have an especially ambitious sound design, and so surround activity can be limited to things like background bustle on the set of the show, or some of the ambient environmental effects that show up in some of the checkpoint material. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation. English subtitles are forced, for those who care about such things.

Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Conversations at the Quad with Director Sameh Zoabi (1080p; 21:32) is moderated by Tomris Laffly.


• Tel Aviv on Fire Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:54)

Tel Aviv on Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tel Aviv on Fire has an underlying nobility in a way, suggesting that Arabs and Israelis can in fact work together when there's a "decent" cause. Unfortunately, the film never really capitalizes on the opportunity for over the top humor, and instead tends to coast genially enough on the combined charisma of its enjoyable cast. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.