Paradise Now

—1. Overview
—2. Reviews and Blogs
—3. Cast and Crew
—4. Photo Pages
—5. Trailers, Clips, DVDs
—6. Posters (Islam)
—7. Production Notes (pdf)
—8. Spiritual Connections
—9. Presentation Downloads

News of suicide bombers has (sadly) become commonplace. It seems that each day we hear how many were killed or injured in Israel or Iraq or some other place in the world. What in the world makes people willing to become such a terrorist – or more, to think they are heroes for blowing up themselves and others?

Paradise Now is an international production that gives us a look at the kind of person that can become a suicide bomber. The amazing thing is not that we meet people willing to kill so wantonly, but that we actually like them. This is not, however, an apology for or glorification of terrorism. Rather it shows us the various circumstances that come together for someone to make the decision for terrorism or to reject that method. We see both options. Hopefully, we will gain some understanding of how people make such choices so that the case against terrorism can be made.

The film tells the story of Said and Khaled, two boyhood friends now working in a garage in Nablus. Much of their life is just marking time, because there is so little potential of things to do under the Israeli occupation. The one bright spot is that Said has a budding romance with Suha, the daughter of one of the early heroes of the Palestinian struggle.

One day, Said and Khaled get word that they have been chosen for an operation in Tel Aviv. They have committed to acting together and dying side by side for the Palestinian cause. They have prepared for this day, but now that it is here, will they carry through? Will their conflicted consciences overcome their sense of responsibility to their people?

A key scene is when Said and Khaled make their “martyrs’ videos�. These videos will be sold and rented by other Palestinians after they have become martyr-heroes. They read their statement giving God glory and calling for freedom for their people. But they also include some very human concerns, such as one of them telling his mother about what kind of water filter she should be buying. Such a serious event, yet it has a certain amount of humor. Not because this is a laughing matter – but because it is a human matter.

Interestingly, it is Suha that brings the argument against violence. She has, in her own way, been the victim of the violence that her father helped bring about. She notes, when someone mentions how proud she must be of such a hero, that she would rather have him alive than a hero. The dichotomy of Suha and Said’s perspectives give us two sides of the issue to consider.

What is not a part of this film is the Israeli view of terrorism, nor is their role as occupiers given much inclusion. This is a film that is really concerned with the Palestinian option of violence that is played out in suicide bombing. It does not treat the terrorist as the monsters we want them to be. They seem human and reasonable. But in spite of that, it never condones the choice they make. It shows us the cost of that choice.

Directed and co-written by Palestinian Hany Abu-Assam, the film is produced by companies in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Israel. The crew represented various nationalities, including Palestinians and Israelis.

To create the characters of Said and Khaled, Abu-Assam read transcripts of interrogations of suicide bombers who had failed. We get a believable picture of young men who seem willing to sacrifice themselves. Some quotes that lay out their position: “Death is better than inferiority.� “Whoever fights for freedom can die for it.� “I’d rather have the paradise in my head than live in this hell.�

The film has some similarities to the 1965 film, The Battle of Algiers, which long ago gave us a look into the world of terrorism (even if few have actually taken the time to seek the insights it gave us.) Both films help us to see the desperation that leads some to do acts that we rightly condemn.

Religion plays a much bigger part in Paradise Now. It is almost absent in The Battle of Algiers, but God is invoked over and over in a variety of ways throughout Paradise Now. One of the issues that needs to be addressed in any examination of the issue is the role that religious fervor plays in violence – whether it be Islam or Judaism or Christianity.

The purpose of Paradise Now is not to make any point – it is to invite us to understand a little more and to create more of a discussion about the issues that all come together to make terrorism seem like an option. Perhaps through understanding and discussion we can come closer to peace.

—Overview