For those viewers who are wondering whether this is a pro suicide bomber movie or not, I can say that it may depend upon who's doing the viewing. Director Hany Abu-Assad, who is a Muslim was born in Nazareth, which is a largely Christian city in Palestine. He moved to the Netherlands when he was a young man and currently lives in Los Angeles. He believes the film presents "an artistic point of view of...(a) political issue." I tend to agree. The proof perhaps is in the fact that some Palestinians feel the film wasn't fair to their situation while some Israelis feel that the film glorified suicide bombers. Both sides can find evidence in the film to support their point of view, and the arguments can become heated.

Personally I find suicide bombings abhorrent and counterproductive. My belief has long been that the Palestinians would further their cause through a non-violent approach similar to methods used by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Using your children to kill other people's children while committing suicide is not only morally wrong, but not likely to win the hearts and minds of people who can help you. Furthermore the idea (expressed in the film by the suicide bombers and those who exploit them) that some people are superior because they are not afraid to die demonstrates a limited understanding of human nature and ignores history. The Japanese used suicide bombers in World War II for example to no good effect. And those men were not the "humiliated" and "oppressed" uneducated youths typical of suicide bombers in the Middle East. Instead some of them were the cream of the young manhood of a growing nation. Understand also that if the United States had the need it would have no trouble persuading countless Americans to commit suicide for God and country. Some of the combat missions in the Pacific Theater amounted to something close to suicide. No single people have a monopoly on tribalism.

What Hany Abu-Assad shows in the film is that the justification for suicide bombing is at best suspect and at worse without any merit at all. "What happens afterward?" one of the bombers asks, and is told, "Two angels come and pick you up." This is not merely satire, it is a burlesque of the "Paradise Now" reasoning. Indeed the title of the film is itself satirical and ironic. Young men seeing this film will notice that it is THEY who are being used as suicide bombers, not the political leaders and the imams. Also the scene in which the suicide bombers make the obligatory video saying goodbye to family and friends and "I did it for God" with automatic rifle held on high, was played as farce, revealing the empty promise behind being used.

The fact that most of the anti-suicide rhetoric in the film comes from Suha (Lubna Azabal) who is the daughter of a privileged Arab and onetime opposition hero is seen as significant by some because in Arab/Muslim countries the political opinion of women is of scant value, and therefore Suha is seen as expressing a minority or discredited opinion. However, since her expression is so very well articulated and persuasive, it can be seen from the opposite point of view, as expressing reason and moral truth.

Hany Abu-Assad of course had more than an artistic intent in making this film. Clearly he wanted to put the tragedy of the Palestinians upon the silver screen (and DVD) for all the world to see. To be effective he realized that he could not poison the waters of his expression with subjectivity and one-sidedness. He had to work hard to be as objective as possible and to present both sides of the argument. That way his film would be viewed and discussed, and some sympathy and understanding might develop. He had to show suicide bombers as living, breathing human beings. Notice that the two depicted are relatively intelligent young men, not mindless robots.

I share with Abu-Assad the belief that if all the facts about what is happening in the Middle East become widely known and understood (in so far as it is possible to understand the lives of people living in different cultures thousands of miles away) this knowledge and understanding would help to bring about positive change. Ignorance is our only real enemy.

In short, Paradise Now is a work of art and an excellent film that clearly deserved its Golden Globe Award as the Best Foreign Film and its nomination for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film. Kais Nashif who plays Said, one of the bombers, and Ali Suliman, who plays the other, both do an outstanding job, particularly Nashif who manages to combine the look and feel of a disadvantaged youth with the strength of character of a young man who is determined to follow what he ultimately determines is his fate. His motivation goes beyond the ignorant and indoctrinated suicide bomber who is hoping to be rewarded with virgins in heaven. He has personal reasons for becoming a suicide bomber. He is the son of a man who collaborated with the Israelis, and consequently he feels that his fate is to compensate for what his father did.

The film was shot in Nablus and Nazareth and captures some of the atmosphere. The editing is crisp and the story unfolds clearly with a nice tension. The sense that the bomb around the bomber's waist could go off at any moment is one of the devices in the film that maintains that tension in a unique way.

All in all this a film very much worth seeing regardless of how you feel about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

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This was a title I kept hearing that featured in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it didn't sound like anything to do with I read about in the plot, but I suppose that is the point, anyway, I was always going to watch it. Basically in Nablus, Palestine, Said (Kais Nashif) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) have been friends since childhood, and the story follows what could be their last days together, as they have been selected to become suicide attackers in Tel Aviv. They have been recruited by an unidentified resistance, and in their time left together they say goodbye to their unknowing families, acting as normal as possible, and filming themselves glorifying Allah and their cause, and to look like Israelis they shave their beards and hair and wear suits, their cover story is that they are going to a wedding. The handlers are the only ones with keys that will remove the explosives attached to each men, the instructions are for them to detonate their bombs at a military checkpoint in Israel, they will leave a gap of fifteen minutes so that police will be killed arriving at the scene. They cross the border, but are soon chased by guards, Khaled reaches the handlers and his device removed, while Said is still on the run, he meanwhile has reached a settlement, he considers exploding the bomb on a bus, but he changes his mind seeing a child on it. He is picked up by a woman he has fallen in love with, Suha (Lubna Azabal),he tells how his father was executed for his actions working with the Israelis, his father weakness being taken advantage of is what he blames them for, he is still wearing the explosive device belt when his friend finds him, visiting his father's grave. They explain that they are not ready to make an attack, Said is still ready to make an attack, but Suha discovers the plan and influences Khaled not to be part of it, he tries to convince his friend not to go ahead with the suicide attack, but he pretends to be influenced, and the final moments are a long shot with them on a bus together with Israeli solders, before cutting to white. Also starring Amer Hlehel as Jamal and Hiam Abbass as Said's Mother. The performances of the two young leads are obviously important, they are convincing as the close friends who are turned into potential suicidal murderers, but obviously their morals come into play, the story of people made to kill people in a cause they hardly comprehend is very interesting, a controversial subject and many tense moments keep you guessing what happens next, I admit bits were slow, but overall it is a watchable political drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Good!

"Paradise Now" is a rare film in which one sees another angle to the Middle East conflict first hand. In fact, the movie is non violent while making its point, something, that in another director's hands, would have taken a different path.

Director Hani Abu Assad takes us behind the scenes as two young men are being asked to perform the most daring act in order to make a statement to the enemy, give up their own lives! Mr. Assad takes us along as this pair prepares for what could be their last day on earth. In fact, one of the things that have always puzzled us is the idea that the young people giving their own lives, go to their deaths so quietly, and without any questions posed to the leaders that are asking for their sacrifice.

We watch as the two good friends, Said and Khaled spend the last night with their families, not even giving a hint of what they are about to do. Later, in a scene that reminded us of "The Last Supper", Said and Khaled sit with the leader of their group to partake their last meal. Then, we watch as they both are transformed to resemble their own enemy.

The two young leads, Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman are perfect in their roles. Lubna Azabal, is seen as a young Moroccan woman who has met the pair at the garage where they worked and seems to act as their conscience because she makes them reflect on the deed they are going to perform.

"Paradise Now" points to a lot of the causes for the problems in the region where the contrast between the two sides is like day and night. Nablas, the town where Said and Khaled live could well be in another planet, while Tel Aviv, with its skyscrapers, modernity and order, is perhaps, the paradise they are searching for.

The film is worth a look since it is a different account about the tragedy in that part of the world.