2006-03-29—Paradise Now |
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Paradise Now is biased toward Palestinians, but nevertheless adds to Mideast understanding |
Paradise Now directed by Hany Abu-Assad,
2005, color, Arabic with English subtitles, some English, 90 minutes. As polemics go, Paradise Now is fairly objective, providing competing Palestinian rationales both for terrorism and peaceful resistance to the Israeli occupation. On the other hand, Israeli points of view are missing completely from this suspenseful tale. It is taken as a given that Israelis are oppressors, and that Palestinians are victims—an assumption that has prompted people who are either pro-Israel or simply pro-truth to suggest this Golden Globe-winning film should be dismissed as mere propaganda. The criticism leveled at Israel is no tougher than that which it receives from its own peace movement—and Israel is strong enough to withstand such internal debate. What makes this film interesting and worth seeing is that we finally see a debate on the Palestinian side of the question. No matter how you dress it up, isn’t suicide bombing just murder? How can Palestinians attempt to claim the moral high ground when they take innocent lives? The well-told story written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad
follows two friends from Nablus—Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) as
they prepare to sacrifice themselves and murder other people.
We cannot be sure what really motivates Khaled, but we are given to
understand that Said seeks to redeem his family’s reputation.
When he was just 10, his father was executed by Palestinian terrorists
for “collaborating” with Israel. Had the two friends gotten over the border without
difficulty, no doubt they would have followed their orders to wreak as much
carnage as possible by having two explosions spaced minutes apart. The first
explosion would draw rescue workers, who then could be the targets for the
second. But they were spotted as they cut through a border fence and had to flee from an Israeli Army jeep. Khaled makes it back through the fence into Palestinian territories, but Said is left on the Israeli side. He gets to a bus stop, and waits there with settlers. He is about to follow them onto the bus when he sees a little girl aboard—and, perhaps conscious-stricken, perhaps afraid for his life, decides not to go through with his mission. Eventually, Said returns to the Palestinian side of the
fence where he and Khaled are reunited.
There, the cynicism of handler Jamal (Amer Hlehel) is offset by the
idealism of Saha (Lubna Azabel), who clearly offers Said the alternative
possibility of romance. She, who
believes in peaceful demonstration, is the life force; Jamal the death force.
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