... So it was for me with Paradise Now, a film I knew nothing about, other than a website blurb about two potential suicide bombers.
Co-written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad this is a story set within the West bank in Palestine, with two friends, Said and Khaled, being offered their chance ... Read review
Said and Khaled are walking time bombs. With explosives strapped to their bodies, the two ... more
young Palestinians slip into Israel, planning a suicide mission in Tel Aviv. Can anything or anyone change their minds? Paradise Now - sweepingly powerful and int...
From the most unexpected place comes a bold new call for peace... Two Palestinian ... more
childhood friends have been recruited for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv and focus on their last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separa...
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Advantages: Superb acting; low key realism; Lack of prejudice Disadvantages: None (unless you hate reading subtitles)
...it was for me with Paradise Now, a film I knew nothing about, other than a website blurb about two potential suicide bombers.
Co-written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad this is a story set within the West bank in Palestine, with two friends, Said and Khaled, being offered their chance of martyrdom (hence 'Paradise Now') by carrying out a suicide mission in Tel Aviv.
Both the men react to the invitation with a mixture ... ...seems the happiest to grab the chance. Said is more thoughtful, altogether darker, about the whole affair.
But they are both ready, and then readied after a blackly comic filming of their martyr speeches, as they have their hair shaved short, and bears shaved off, to make them look more Israeli. The bombs are strapped to their waists (complete with anti-tamper device) and they are clothed in idential black suits, white shirts and black ... more
Every now and then a movie will sneak up and catch you by surprise. So it was for me with Paradise Now, a film I knew nothing about, other than a website blurb about two potential suicide bombers.
Co-written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad this is a story set within the West bank in Palestine, with two friends, Said and Khaled, being offered their chance of martyrdom (hence 'Paradise Now') by carrying out a suicide mission in Tel Aviv.
Both the men react to the invitation with a mixture of relief, confusion and elation, though it is Khaled who seems the happiest to grab the chance. Said is more thoughtful, altogether darker, about the whole affair.
But they are both ready, and then readied after a blackly comic filming of their martyr speeches, as they have their hair shaved short, and bears shaved off, to make them look more Israeli. The bombs are strapped to their waists (complete with anti-tamper device) and they are clothed in idential black suits, white shirts and black ties (to complete their cover of going to a wedding).
It's hard to write this review without offering some spoilers, but when I say that things don't go to plan I hope I'm not giving too much away. We enter the second half of the movie with the men separated and trying to find each other again in the West Bank, with recriminations flying from those in charge of the operation.
During this period of confused suppressed fear we see attitudes change, preconceptions alternately challenged and backed up, a maintenance of a low level black humour, and the simple desire of two men wanting to do the right thing but not entirely clear that they know what that is.
By the end the two friends are reunited, with the final scenes as strong as you are ever likely to have seen.
For a film with such a political and reviled action at its centre this has a remarkably neutral feel. We see the good and the bad within the West Bank and Israel, the contradictions that exist, and the hatred that refuses to die in the face of reason. The portrayals of every character, from Said and Khaled to their parents, from the daughter of a killed martyr to the schoolteacher planning the attacks, seem perfectly real and honest.
There is no attempt to convince the viewer of any particular standpoint, and no grandstand drum-banging. It is an emotional movie precisely because it does not try to do anything other than show the truth of a friendship between two men in a remarkable situation. And the final act, which could have adopted a Hollywood 'shock and awe' tactic, instead is an exercise in restraint that has you watching holding your breath in the silence.
Deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and winning a litany of other international awards, this is a film without prejudice, which might just make people think more honestly about the situation in the Middle East.
Advantages: sublime Disadvantages: room for more characters to be woven in
A well crafted portrayal on the frighteningly casual nature of Jihad and its workings in the modern day Middle East. The fashion in which the characters are called upon , to their goal, illustrates how such terrorist acts perceived as horrific in the west are viewed as needed and part of an otherness of impending destiny in such areas as the West Bank, in this case. The acting is perfectly understated, further enhancing the message this film sends. ... ...faiths, though still cleverly raising questions around the issues it aims to, allowing the audience to consider all contributing facets of the storyline. Personal vengeance becomes an issue making the film more intriguing towards the end. The final message being not as straightforward as initially thought. Cleverly, and delicately created around issues that are obviously incendiary ...
clivelillie 30.08.2008
· Read full review
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THE STORY LINE.
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Advantages: The Surround Sound Disadvantages: Lack Of Songs
3.Two Out Of Three Aint Bad
4.Razors Edge
5.More Than You Deserve
6.Im Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us
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Now you may be wondering why the likes of 'Dead Ringer For Love' and 'Rock And Roll Dreams Come True are not on this dvd.
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PARADISE NOW follows the fate of two Palestinian would-be terrorists who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv. When an unforeseen complication arises at the eleventh hour, they are forced to reconsider their plans.
Fine-tuned moral thriller, the first film to map the interior landscape of Islamic terrorism (Entertainment Weekly, 02/08/2006)
Brilliantly crafted drama (Financial Times, 02/08/2006)
The film radiates authenticity. Even when he plays the action like a thriller, Abu-Assad is in search of a deeper truth (Rolling Stone, 02/08/2006)
The film is most powerful in its moments of lyrical reflection (Sight And Sound, 02/08/2006)
DVD Description
PARADISE NOW focuses on the final days of two Palestinian terrorists as they prepare to carry out a homicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. When childhood friends Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) are offered a shot at 'martyrdom', they feel a renewed sense of purpose in serving their people's cause. Groomed by a shadowy figure named Jamal (Amer Hlehel), the young men go about the grim task of tying up loose ends and saying their final farewells. However, all does not go according to plan when, on the day of the attack, they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers. A young Palestinian woman learns of their plan and implores them to reconsider their actions. Shot on location in both the Palestinian territories and Israel, PARADISE NOW is a highly controversial drama about the possible motivations and actions of two homicide bombers. The film's difficult production saw crew members abandoning the set amid fears for their lives, location manager Hassan Titi getting kidnapped, a land mine exploding 300 meters away from the set, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat stepping in to aid the filmmakers. Director Hany Abu-Assad has tempered the script's bleak subject matter with black humour, even having the two men nervously joke around as they film their farewell speeches to their families. But ultimately the movie seeks to examine the mindset of people capable of such acts of barbarity, as well as the inherent anxieties they face.
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