Paradise Now (2005)

Absolute Must See

I went to see Paradise Now. Never before have I seen a movie affect an audience as profoundly as this minimalist Palestinian directed movie. At the end of the movie, the credits rolled without music or fanfare of any kind. For the first two to three minutes of those credits, not a soul stirred nor spoke. The audience just sat there in stunned silence. One person stood to leave and the rest of us then followed like lemmings, but still, there was not a sound. People left the theatre as if they were leaving a gravesite; silent, reverent and stunned by loss.

If the chance presents itself, you need to walk, run or crawl to your nearest theatre when this film is offered. It will damage your soul when you see it, you will leave the theatre, with a sinking feeling in your spirit, wondering how this could possibly be going on in a civilized world. But knowing that, get to the movie, and deal with the soul damage later. Dealing with that damage is part of the experience. In the film, the director does not take a stand pro or con, he leaves that to the audience. It will create an argument in your soul, how do you balance the true horror of suicide bombing with the totally ordinary people that carry it out. It will challenge you. It will horrify you. It will change you. There is no way that you can be the same after the experience. The silence that it invokes at the end is the beginning of the discussion. Paradise Now is a must see movie for anyone interested in understanding all sides of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. May 19, 2008

Paradise Now?

Some movies tend to stuff the idealogy down our throats and yet, this movie raises more questions than answers. We are accustomed to read about the conflict between Israel and Palestine in the news but seldom do we see it from Palestinian's perspective. The story premise is simple enough about two childhood friends who decide to become martyrs. They make it clear that since they cannot be regarded as equals with Israel in life, they may just as well regard themselves as equals with Israel in death by killing as many Israeli soldiers as possible through suicide bombing. Here, there's this lady by the name of Suha whose father is hailed as a hero (suicide bomber) and yet, she belongs to a human rights group. She believes that violence doesn't resolve the conflict and the best way to win is by reasoning through morality. Said, one of the suicide bomber partakes in the scheme because he yearns to be ridden of his father's label as a collaborator. His best friend eventually comes to realisation that their action would achieve nothing. I guess that it's hard to reason sensibly when your living environment is oppressed and that Palestinians are humiliated and treated as occupied prisoners when not too far away, Tel Aviv leads a rather comfortable lifestyle. Many of suicide bombers opt for the Paradise after life but should they not create their Paradise now on earth? I think what Mahatma Ghandi says is true: be the change that you wish for in this world. If you choose to do nice things, we would create a nice cycle and if we opt otherwise, we would create vicious cycle. So, where do we stand? Highly recommended to view to awaken the humanity in us. February 10, 2008

paradise now

"paradise now" gives the viewer some insight to why young men would choose to commit suicide plus killing at someone else's command. The story evolves in such a way that creates great suspense and dread about the outcome. Fortunately at the end, the viewer is spared the gore of such an act. January 3, 2008

Thought-provoking, saddening

This film is a character study of would-be suicide bombers. From the bombers' perspective, the main themes are Israel as "occupier", Palestinians as humiliated, "occupation" as perpetuating "resistance", and the human body as the only weapon left to Palestinians. These are bleak themes, wrapped in the poverty and squalor of decimated Palestinian urban landscapes.

Each of the two would-be bombers expresses doubts about their mission, showing they're reflective, thinking beings, not one-dimensional automatons. Frighteningly though, neither is distinct in any meaningful way, suggesting any of a thousand men (or women) could replace them.

There are many poignant moments in this film, but the most striking for me is when Suha, a well-educated intellectual woman, asks one of the bombers "what will happen to the rest of us left behind?" The painful message is that everyday Palestinians who would pursue peace through non-violent means are marginalized by those who believe violence is the only viable terms of engagement with Israel. December 29, 2007

Fighting your own demons...

Paradise Now, as opposed to Apocalypse Now. While Apocalypse Now showed us the insanity of a fully orchestrated war, Paradise Now shows you the insanity of a made-as-you-go war over ideas that only divide. where is the sense in killing to speed up an imagined ascension to an imagined heaven? December 22, 2007

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