Yairah Shalhevet

After the opening joke in Sameh Zoabi’s “Tel Aviv on Fire” (concerning the grammatically correct use of the Hebrew word “explosive” when referring to a woman), one never doubts for a moment the clarity with which he views the complexities of The Situation as he sends the film’s protagonist, Salam, navigating the daily checkpoints commuting between his home in Jerusalem and his job on the set of a Palestinian soap opera in Ramallah. Zoabi gently waves a magic wand of outlandish humor (instead of a gun) and gradually disarms us of our fears; we risk a quick glance as he slowly pulls back the curtain -- just a little at first, but gradually more and more – and we begin to see the impossible absurdity of The Situation as clearly as he does. Rather than using humor to skewer his characters, he uses it to demonstrate how deeply he cares about them as he puts on display their many flaws and vulnerabilities, then gives us permission to laugh along with him as we all recognize ourselves in them, no matter which role they play at the checkpoint in Jerusalem or in the production company of the soap in Ramallah or all the points in between. By refusing to deal in the predictable shorthand of stereotypes of people and politics, Zoabi earns our trust with another round of laughs and we in the audience become more and more willing to roll with, and step into, the story at hand. The result had this viewer laughing until she cried, in spite of her political passions, and rooting for Salam, this most improbable hero as he unapologetically goes about setting his sights on achieving a most praiseworthy, albeit unlikely, goal.

This is must-see viewing if you want a broader understanding and fuller context of Putin's war against Ukraine. Indeed, the broad strokes of The Situation are presented in the first 2 minutes 41 seconds; the essential events are laid out in stark simplicity: from Ukraine's declaration of independence in '91, proceeding to rigged elections, upheld elections and finally, the eruption of the (primarily) student-led Orange Revolution against a corrupt government's campaign of systematic deception and lies regarding the promised European Alliance Agreement, a revolution that galvanized a whole people, embracing all the generations and taught them to sing their own song. (You'll be glad you watched it, but be prepared: bring plenty of tissues.) (Need another opinion? Check out Sean Penn's comments about this movies on CNN).