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Anything but a bomb
Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a suicide bomber? Paradise Now will be controversial because of the specific conflict — Israel vs. Palentine — it deals with, but the great thing about it is the way it delves into human issues that are common to many sides of many disputes. Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) have volunteered to make the ultimate sacrifice to fight the Israeli occupation of Palestine — but these best buddies want to go together when they go. Their time comes when the organization they belong to schedules their "first major operation in two years" against Tel Aviv. Our "heroes" will take action the next day. We've already seen the men at work in an auto repair shop, where Khaled's temper costs him his job. We've also met Suha (Lubna Azabal), a woman born in France and raised in Morocco. Her father was a Palestinian martyr but she works with a human rights group seeking alternative solutions to conflict. The spark between her and Said won't have time to become a flame before his mission. But she may have another chance when a glitch aborts the mission temporarily. Said and Khaled are separated and Paradise Now becomes another kind of thriller. When they can't find Said, who's still a walking bomb, the leaders think he's betrayed them. Khaled begs for time to find his friend before they take drastic action and is given until the end of the day. The men spend the day looking for each other, with enough near-misses that it becomes almost farcical, in a serious way. Khaled finds Suha when Said has just left her. He thinks Said has gone to his father's grave and sets out with Suha to meet him there. Then comes one of my pet movie peeves. They start in broad daylight but night falls before they cover the distance Said has traveled on foot. There's surprising humor in the scene where Khaled tapes his message to speak for him when he's gone but the film's biggest surprise is the revelation of the real reason behind Said's zeal. With humor, romance and suspense, Paradise Now is an entertaining movie, but it's also a movie of ideas, which can scare people away from the box office. It involves a lot of emotions anyone can relate to, even if you've never contemplated dying for a cause. Directed and co-written by Hany Abu-Assad, Paradise Now is much better than The War Within, a recent film, similar in some respects, about a Pakastani on a bombing mission in New York. Steve Warren is a local actor and film reviewer. His reviews can also be seen weekly in the Sunday Paper. |
Paradise Now
Directed by: Hany Abu-Assad 
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