Cheap Paradise Now (DVD) (Hany Abu-Assad) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Paradise Now

A Sad But Timely Movie
Said and Khaled are young Palestinian friends who are recruited to become suicide bombers against Israel. On their trip to Tel-Aviv, they become separated and their mission gets aborted. These two friends then have second thoughts about their mission, and much of the movie has to do with their struggle of whether or not to go through with their plan. Said says he was born in a refugee camp and has only left that camp once at six for medical reasons. He also bears the shame that his father was executed for being a collaborator. He believes that his life is without hope, that he essentially is already dead. Jamal, one of the masterminds of the plan, assures him and Khaled that upon their deaths they will be picked up by two angels. "This honor is granted to only a few." Said's female friend Suha tries to convince him that nothing will be accomplished by his becoming a martyr. <
> <
>The acting in the film is superb; the suspense is nerve-racking; the ending will break your heart. The subject matter, of course, is as timely as the evening news. Released in 2005, the movie is in Arabic with subtitles. <
> <
>

Makes you think, but don't forget to consider both sides
The film "Paradise Now" presents a compelling story of forty-eight hours in the life of two young Palestinian men who are selected to carry out a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, Israel. The plot focuses on childhood friends Khaled and Said who are living a difficult life under the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The two friends work dead-end jobs at a local auto repair shop and place much of the blame for their difficult situation on Israel. After a long day at work, Said is approached by one of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance and told that he and Khaled have been selected to carry out an "operation" against Israel. As the story continues, the two friends contemplate the ethicality of their decision and struggle to decide whether or not to carry out their mission. <
>Artistically speaking, this film was done very well. There is excellent character development of the two friends, Said and Khaled. During their struggle to accomplish their mission the two friends question their own motives and the legitimacy of resorting to violence to solve a problem. The arguments posed in the film are also extremely relevant to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. Through the characters of Said and Khaled, the director, Hany Abu-Assad, discusses controversial issues such as the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the legitimacy of Palestinian suicide bombers. Having recently spent time in Israel, this film provided insight to the struggles of the Palestinian people. Many of the views conveyed toward Israel are understandable considering the low quality of life that Palestinians experience. I appreciated that this film pushed me to re-consider my own opinions toward this issue. Any successful piece of artwork forces audience members to think about the issue, and this film did just that. Having said this, "Paradise Now" also encouraged me to look at both sides of the issue, which is necessary in order to formulate an opinion about any issue. <
>Where I felt this film fell short was the context, or lack there of, that this story was placed in. Although this film is a good way for outsiders to understand the situation from the Palestinian point of view, my fear is that this fuels ignorance towards Israel and its people. "Paradise Now" provides no historical look at how the situation between Israel and Palestine has come to be. There is no reference to the original U.N. partition plan of 1948 in which the land of Israel was divided evenly between Jews and Palestinians. The only reference given to Israel is that of an occupying force, rather than a legitimate country, which overlooks the accomplishments that Israel has had in the last sixty years. Israel is constantly referred to as being an oppressive society, and at one point that it "has no morals" in terms of its military actions. The only reference given to Israel being provoked by suicide bombers is through the character of Suha. Suha is a moderate-minded young woman that Said falls in love with just before he sets off to carry out the attack. Although Suha does bring up valid arguments about why Said should not carry out the attack, she is in no way the heroine of the film, Said is. There is never any reference to the amount of fighting that Palestinians direct at each other. Much of the instability in Palestinian territories is due to political violence between the rival parties of Hamas and Fatah. It seems as if Abu-Assad has overlooked this issue in order to garner support against Israel. This being said, I don't believe that Abu-Assad's purpose of creating this film was to portray a balanced view of the situation. This film was successful in providing an ethnocentric view of life as Palestinian and the justifications, in their mind, of suicide attacks. <
>I did find this film valuable for audiences who are educated about the Israel-Palestine conflict and have an understanding of the history behind the situation. I would recommend this film to anyone seeking to understand the daily hardships that Palestinians go through. Even though people might not agree with everything that this film conveys, it is beneficial in that it forces one to reexamine their opinion about a certain issue. <
>