Paradise Now
This is the year of Middle Eastern themes in the movies and hot on the heels of Ethiopian Jews in Israel we have Palestinian suicide bombers in Paradise Now. This is not a great film cinematographically. It is however a brave and significant work of competent film making. A sort of psychological thriller it looks at the last days of Said and Khaled who have been chosen for a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. We get to see their miserable life in Nablus, a Palestine city that is dirty, ramshackle and lacking basic amenities like clean water, we get to see their lack of hope and the sense that they live in a prison. At the end of the film we glimpse the glamour of Tel Aviv, the wealth and cleanliness and there is no comparison – the Palestinians have been condemned to living in a dump. Beyond that we have a view of the different views from within the Palestine camp, those who believe in the ultimate sacrifice of the bombers and the others who want a more intelligent moral battle. Suha, the daughter of a fallen hero is one of these and tries to convinve the two bombers who themselves show that mix of bravura, rage and fear that seems typical of the bombers. Good acting by Ali Suliman and Kais Nashel 
in the lead roles and a good script and direction from Hany Abu-Assad. It is almost documentary like by the end giving us the sense that we really have seen life from the other side in Paradise Now. Worth seeing and good for debate!
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