Paradise Now

WWW & I watched the Palestinian film Paradise Now today. It won this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and deservedly so. It was simply brilliant.

About the journey of two Palestinian young men who volunteer to be suicide bombers. Extremely poignant, deals with the issues holistically, the boys battled many internal demons before deciding to do what they did. One of the most cogent, incisive films I've seen to date, close to perfect in its execution. 90 minutes of exceptional film making.

The emotional tenor was very strong, but the film doesn't become preachy or overwrought. In fact most of the characters do not even cry -- there is just much sadness and resignation in their eyes. Perhaps a very apt metaphor for Palestine.

There was another scene where everyone was walking about near an Israeli checkpoint, going about their day, and there was sounds of fire. They all momentarily crouch, just a few seconds, than they stand up and continue walking, continue their day, and continue their lives.

Also very poignant is a sub-plot of one of the young man, Said, who falls in love with another character, Suha, and how he sacrifices his feelings and potential relationship to do what he staunchly believes was right for him, right for his people. That to me was one of the more painful moments/sections of the movie. (Maybe because of my current high ;)

Acting was superb - the actor who plays Said is so grief stricken he does not smile at all in the entire movie, not even in the presence of Suha. The two actors who play Said and Khaled are very handsome, and Said has the loveliest piercing brown eyes. The script was taut, did not gloss over the complexities of the whole situation, in fact, it had a firm grip of the issues and explained it simply, factually. Well done!

Must watch. A 5 out of 5.