Paradise Now
Ohjaus:
Hany Abu-AssadKuvaus:
Antoine HéberléSävellys:
Jina SumediNäyttelijät:
Kais Nashif, Ali Suliman, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass, Lubna Azabal, Ashraf Barhom, Olivier MeidingerJuonikuvaukset(1)
Paradise Now follows two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv and focuses on their last days together. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Arvostelut (2)
Paradise Now is a surprisingly not only a pensive, but also tense thriller fueled by unexpected twists and dynamically conveying a very intimate and sensitive topic. I’d say its premise is just as attractive as that of Greengrass’s United 93, just presenting the opposite side of the barricade. The film is dominated by the great performances of the two leading actors. Merely the gaze of one of them is the film’s most powerful weapon, and it’s no accident that those eyes are the last thing you see in the movie. I won’t comment on the political attitudes, as those are outside my interest, but the parts dealing with the relationships between the characters (best friend, beloved wife, mother, dead father) work perfectly. Too bad that logic sometimes gives way to the drive of the story. If it weren’t for those lapses in logic, I’d give it five stars.
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Paradise Now is a distinctly political film where artistic form lags behind the social message, i.e., the depiction of the situation in the occupied areas of the West Bank from the perspective of the Palestinian side. I would say that even the audience's evaluation will heavily mirror their political attitudes toward Palestine and Israel. It would be worth comparing the Palestinian problem to the Irish one because Palestinians could have had a disproportionately larger state than the currently occupied territories in the past. By their own stupidity, nationalist radicalism, and systematic failures of their elites, they lost a great deal, which understandably couldn't fit into this film. After several defeats, the Irish chose the path of painful compromise and long-term division of the country so that they could enjoy statehood and independent development. Not long ago, there was a real possibility of the establishment of an independent Palestine, which, although not reaching the territorial extent envisioned by Palestinians and their leaders, would have been a solid foundation for further development. Overall impression: 60%.
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