Paradise Now

Paradise Now

THIS was the movie that I wanted to see but we ended up watching Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire instead.

The movie is about two Palestinian guys (Said & Kahled) that have been friends since childhood. Their lives aren't really going anywhere since they are limited to travel in the West Bank. Then one day, they get called by another 'friend' and are informed that they have been chosen to perform a 'mission'. They are to become the next two suicide bombers for the liberation of Palestine.

They only have one more night to spend with their families and they cannot tell them anything of the next day's planned events. Of course, they aren't able to say any farewells.

The next day they prepare for the 'mission'. Preparations include filming their last message, receiving detailed instructions as to what's going to happen, getting detailed instructions as to what's going to happen to them after the bombs explode, getting fitted with the bomb belt, etc.

A very powerful film that lets the average American see how life is viewed by the Palestinian poor. Surprisingly, the movie does not take a political stance and the extent of political views are only the ones explained by the characters.

I think I now understand some of the reasons the Palestinians have for doing what they do, although I do not necessarily agree with them. You get to see the other side of the story...

Well, after they are prepped for the mission, things go awry and they can't go through with it. The friends get separated and they have to find their way back to the base of operations. They take very different paths to get back. The team thinks one of them is a traitor and the other guy has to go search for him.

Believe it or not, there is no explicit violence in the film. The last scene of the movie where we see Said riding on the bus with Israelis was extremely powerful.

All told, for me, the movie reinforced the ideal that the suicide bombers themselves, although confused, pale in comparison to the cunning, kniving zealots that extort them to do what they do.

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Yeah, this was a good one. Powerful and made you think.