RSS 2.0Paradise Now (2005)
I was merrily working for the Dutch Film Festival a week ago and attended several meetings with the producer and director of Paradise Now as special guests. They both assured their audience that their film is primarily about the friendship between two men at a rather pivotal point in their lives. Such a statement is a pretty tough one, because the main reason I believe people would be drawn to this film, is the fact it is about the last 24 hours in the lives of two Palestinian suicide bombers. That is also what Paradise Now’s tagline refers to.
Paradise Now is the fifth film by Palestinian-Dutch director Hany Abu-Assad. It tells the story of two friends, Said and Khaled. Their ordinary lives are interrupted when they are selected to perform a suicide attack in Nablus. On their way to the job, they nearly get caught near the border and become separated. Said is determined to finish the job, even after his girlfriend Suha finds out about his plans and tries to keep him from doing it. The two men undertake a second attempt, after they have convinced their revolutionary leader they didn’t just run away, but are determined to finished the job.
Whether you disagree or not: this film is about the personal story of two suicide bombers, not about the friendship of two men. The focus mainly lies on Said and the story’s antagonist, Suha, Said’s (potential) girlfriend. Her role officiates as the viewer’s conscience by making clear that suicide bombing is not the only way to pursue the Palestinian ideals. It is admirable that Abu-Assad, of Palestinian origin himself, leaves the side-taking and moral to the viewer.
It would be wrong to base the opinion of whether this is a good or a bad film on the risky subject matter alone. I also tried to watch it from a technical point of view and came across quite a few shortcomings. The main flaw lies within the rather weak screenplay. Abu-Assad clearly wants you to be sucked into the story. He refrains from succeeding in this due to the rather poor sense of suspense. Not being a thriller, but a drama, the ordeal the two men go through could have been portrayed in a more convincing and realistic way. In fact, some issues between the two men, such as their possible fear of dying for their cause as the key element, are glaringly absent.
Abu-Assad tries to show some emotion by zooming in on Khaled and Said’s faces, but doesn’t provide much background for the viewer to fill in their emotions. As you may start to consider what you would do in a similar situation, attention is distracted from what is happening on-screen. The story is ruined in the first half hour, due to rather uninspired dialogues and ado about nothing. The men’s calling for the Palestinian cause therefore emerges practically from out of nowhere.
I know, by what the producer of Paradise Now told us, that a lot of background story was cut. This unfortunately weakened the story. In the end I could not help but think they took the easy route. Additionaly, the cinematography is far from exciting; rather boring if you ask me. The fact this film was shot in occupied territory (Nablus) seems to me more of an interesting detail. Aside from the exterior shots, Paradise Now could easily have been shot in a studio.
Directed by: Hany Abu-Assad
Staring: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman and Lubna Azabal
Runtime: 90’
Release Dates: US: 11 November, The Netherland: 20 October
Arjan Welles (213 posts)Arjan Welles - law graduate. I work at a bank, I work as a film critic for Dutch and English media. My favorite directors are David Lynch, David Fincher, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino. I love arthouse over blockbusters.
1 Comment
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
PARADISE NOW!
FARHAT QUAEM MAQUAMI
A Mini-budget movie is a Giant step towards the liberation of the American Psyche from the Horror of 911. Wake-up America! There was no “suicide hijackers” on the planes. Your government is terrorizing the world for a self-inflicted Terror! Terrorists are US.
It is time to uncover terrorists of 911 who are living in an earthly Paradise in the US from their profit from the fake War on Terror and leave Islam and Muslim masses who had nothing to do with 911 pray for a heavenly Paradise from the Hell that the US has brought to them.
“Paradise Now”artfully illustrates the most crucial links that must exist between the “ Mind Set”, human connections, sufferings, hopelessness and indignities which become the main ingredient in production of “suicide bombers” in Palestine, for the world to see. Yet one comes out of the movie to question why all these elements were missing in 911 “Suicide hijackers”!
It is this latent function of “ Paradise Now” that exposes the absence of the Individual and societal “mind set” in the Bush Administration version of 911 . Unless we believe the Arab faces were under “mind control” drugs or similar to their planes which were on “auto pilots”, the official version of 911 theory would be rendered absurd, unacceptable and fraudulent!
“Paradise Now” is a low budget Movie which attempts to provide a realistic version of what is happening in Palestine. The audience gains knowledge about the human sufferings, dilemmas, confusion and enlightenment that goes through the making of suicide bombers.
“Paradise now” is a cinematic art which contains a vide spectrum of social, political and religious tones that attempts to deal with the fundamental question of how to live and die under the most brutal post-colonial occupation in the name of religion. The diverse aspects of the conflict unveils a human drama which signifies the cry for help of a people condemn to a daily struggle to perish in an apathetic world.
The film explains only a Palestinian drama, but accomplishes something greater than itself. In dealing with personal choices, while being slaughtered under occupation or resisting oppression, it peels through the “mind set” of a “suicide bomber” which undermines the official version of 911 theory.
In this, the film metamorphoses into a liberating tool, which might help the American audience understand why the Bush Administration propaganda that Islamic Radicals were behind the plot of 911 is nonsensical or outright fabrication.
911 Myth of Islamic Terrorists
EVERY ingredient of making the mind-set of suicide bomber are missing from the US fabricated version of 911. An organized operation, which was synchronized with military precision and impeccable supervision, is blamed on bunch of drunk Arab amateurs devoid of “mind sets” performing in a “ socio-cultural” vacuum and no history! After a night out in the Sin City of Las Vegas they go on to execute a stunt that even the most experienced fighter pilots could not pull-off!
This official piece of propaganda was coined by the Neo-Cons, bought by Global Corporations, marketed by their Corporate Media, accepted by their corporate “Progressive Intellectuals” and sold to the world as the only version of reality. Notwithstanding the fact that even the enlightened professors who are supposedly endowed with this gift of academic Freedom in pursuance of a value-free knowledge are themselves a symbol of mental rigidity.
This solidification of intellect, in world dominated by Military-Industrial Corporate plutocracy has produced intellectual foot-soldiers who dance around the same Corporate Wisdom. Nothing is more depressing than witnessing Noam Chumsky, Howard Zinn, George Bush, Condoleezza Rice Arandati Roy, Pacifica Networks, Fox News, CIA Torturers, executors of Fallujah Massacre, and American Death Squad leaders in Iraq are all working in the Judo-Christian Crusader’s Orchestra which uses the fabricated 911 theory to terrorize the world. They deliberately ignored the pivotal role of “mind set” as a basis of any voluntary action in human beings.
Yet, the “mind set” of the “suicide hijackers” of 911 is conspicuous by its absence! No diaries, no testimonies of families and friends, no interrelationship and chains of decision making, no historical irremediable indignities, no mention of violation of an inviolable honor, indeed nothing of that sort has been uncovered by thousands of creative interrogators who would have gotten hefty rewards to invent alibis! This fact by itself demonstrates an intellectual abyss which has created a dreadful tunnel vision corporate mentality in America .
It is hoped that Paradise Now would accomplish what the captive media in the US has failed so far. The unlocking of 911 conspiracy. Only if American audience tear the curtain of deception and become aware that there could not have been suicide hijackers on board those plane and the US was attacked by “friendly fire” and 3000 were just “collateral damage” to get to the oil reserve of the Muslim World, the War on Terror would continue.
Comment by FARHAT MAQUAMI — Mon December 12, 2005 @ 4:03