Paradise Now: See. It. Now.

I’ve always found suicide bombing, no matter what the cause, to be amoral, reprehensible, and futile. While an equally deplorable oppression by Israel leads to Palestinian desperation, there’s no denying that Palestinians stand little chance in strengthening their case by feeding the media more news of “terrorist” activities.

Paradise Now (the first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award) delivers the different mindsets surrounding the issue of Palestinian suicide bombers without compromise. It does so without an overly simplistic critical urgency that segregates things into black and white.

Instead, it gives us an inside look into the lives and minds of desperate men. Men apparently with nothing to lose, driven by revenge, self-justified by a promise of everything, a promise of heaven.

The conversations between Suha (Lubna Azabel) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) and later between Said (Kais Nashef) and the faction leader are alone worth the price of admission.

• cinema
• israel
• palestine
• politics