Shalom to Israel’s David Brent!
HE’S never met Ricky Gervais. He’s never been to Slough. And he didn’t even watch a full episode of The Office before stepping into the shoes of the most obnoxious TV boss of the decade, David Brent.
But actor Dvir Benedek has comedy’s biggest buffoon down to a white-collared tee – complete with the sexist innuendos and racist slurs we all know and love – as the Israeli incarnation of the middle management clown in Super Office.
Cue Avi Meshulam, the regional manager of an office supplies company in Yehud, an industrial backwater near Tel Aviv. Like the English and American versions, most of the laughs (and sniggers) in Super Office are directed at Meshulam, not with him – his insincerities, social insensitivity and general self-delusions – while his colleagues cringe and roll their eyes in his general direction.
Intolerable, offensive, but often just desperate to be liked, Benedek somehow conveys the awkward pauses and subtle sideways glances synonymous with his British counterpart, even when watched in subtitles.
Having starred in a number of hit Israeli shows on the screen and the stage, the 42-year-old actor admits he took inspiration from Gervais to create his own Office adaptation.
“I guess Avi is very strongly based on David. When you see a perfectly built character and have the chance to do the same, it’s a lot of fun but, on the other hand, a huge responsibility. I wanted to give respect to the origins of the character, but at the same time do something new.”
Benedek, who is of Ashkenazi descent, said: “Both are nasty, rude, a bit ignorant – they’re afraid of and bother women – and have a bad sense of humour.”
And he’s not exaggerating. With one-liners aimed at female colleagues like “Dana Dana who likes to play with a banana”, it’s possible Meshulam’s female colleagues hate him even more than Brent’s, with Leah, the perpetually
pregnant Charedi lady with a penchant for sleazy pop songs, and Dana, the office manager who Avi pretends to fire, often the butt of his unfunny, sexist insinuations.
Like Brent, who wants to be regarded by his staff as “a friend first, and a boss second, probably an entertainer third”, Meshulam displays a chronic lack of awareness and regard for the feelings of others. “I’m honoured that you see me as your role model. I’m crazy, I’m not the classic run-of-the-mill boss. What’s my motto? Let’s have an open atmosphere. Especially with the girls.”
In one scene, he reduces receptionist Dana to tears by joking that she is being fired for stealing Post-it notes – to which Meshulam responds: “What’s with you? It was a joke.” Meshulam takes the prank way past a morally acceptable point, but Benedek surprisingly admits: “In our part of the world, some of Brent’s attitudes are actually normal.”
Meshulam isn’t the only character The Office fans will recognise. Gareth becomes Yariv, Tim becomes Yossi, while Big Keith has transmogrified into Yevgeni, a dour Russian immigrant.
The show also features new characters such as Abed, “an intellectual Arab with a gentle soul”, and Abba, a soft-spoken accountant of Ethiopian origin.
With far greater political undertones, giving the show an added dimension, racial slurs against the Arab workers come thick and fast.
Suspicion grows when one Arab
colleague speaks his native tongue – just as the office gather to watch a ground operation in Gaza – with his Jewish co-workers inferring he may be planning a terror operation.
Unavoidably, political hostilities provide plentiful opportunities for awkward office silences and snide digs, giving the gags a uniquely Israeli spin, including one-liners such as “Gaza is crap”.
Meshulam said: “Personally, I don’t care if you’re an Arab, a Russian, a Yemenite … Yemenites, for example, are the best warehouse workers we have.”
But Benedek insists the racial humour isn’t restricted to his home city: “We’ve taken it to festivals around the world and people love the wide-open racism. The reaction to Super Office has been fantastic. We’re starting to shoot the second season in two months.”
Meshulam’s “material” is invariably trite and badly-executed, featuring poor impressions and banal routines recycled from well-known Israeli shows, much like Brent’s renditions from Fawlty Towers. But unlike his Slough-based predecessor, Meshulam hasn’t acquired an outlandish dance routine for the role.
Having never met or even spoken to Gervais, the Israeli actor has added one of his own traits to the mix.
“I guess I’m very cynical, and that part of me goes into Avi. But I also love people. While Ricky didn’t give me any tips on the role, the way he played Brent was just genius – and I guess that was enough,” he said.
“From the minute I got the part of Avi I didn’t watch any episodes until shooting was over. I wanted to try and be clean of Ricky Gervais, but I guess I couldn’t help but remember a lot. His influence permeates many of the episodes.”
When asked if he sees himself as Israel’s Ricky Gervais, he answered: “I’ll try to be modest by not answering that. But people say I’m alright.”
The father-of-one has “gladly not” ever had a boss like Meshulam – or indeed Brent for that matter – and says he’s lucky enough not to have worked with any similar colleagues either.
“I’m fortunate enough to have only actors as colleagues, and actors have a very high sense of self-awareness. So I’ve never met people like those who work in The Office.”
Having been remade for the US market, with Steve Carell taking over from Gervais as the foolish boss, foreign language versions of the mockumentary have also been made in France (Le Bureau), Germany (Stromberg), French-speaking Canada (La Job) and Chile (La Ofis).
With plans for a second Israeli series, Benedek now spends his time working in theatre and shooting other TV shows. He says he’s “very happy with what I have”. And so he should be.
KARI ROSENBERG
Pictured: Dvir Benedek in the Israeli TV series Super Office.
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