>>PREVIEW
PARADISE NOW
Starring Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Opens Friday, November 25
Uptown
Did you ever wonder what makes a suicide bomber tick (so to speak)?
For many of us, it’s nearly impossible to comprehend the reasons why someone would strap plastic explosives to their own body, walk into a crowded area and detonate the powerful charge, blowing themselves and anyone else within several metres all the way to the Promised Land.
Paradise Now, a controversial new film by Dutch-Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, helps us see through the apparent insanity of these acts to understand the rationale of many suicide bombers. The controversy stems, of course, from the fact that the film puts a human face on what many wish to remain a faceless enemy – terrorism. Yet, the pacifist Abu-Assad says that it was not necessarily his goal to humanize terrorists.
"This is the consequence, but not the goal," he says. "My goal was to understand, as a human being and as a filmmaker, more about this phenomenon and to experience it through (drama)."
He notes that this is common in cinema and television, drawing comparisons to productions such as The Godfather and The Sopranos, both of which concern, to some degree, the moral lives of criminals. Certainly, Paradise Now allows us to contemplate the ethics of its two main characters, Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), two Palestinian friends who have agreed to carry out a suicide-bombing mission in Israel. We join the action as the appointed day of their martyrdom arrives, and the story is a crucible in which we see their resolve tested and their motivations revealed.
Surprisingly, in a film that contains its share of suspenseful moments, the climax comes in a long monologue where Said explains his carefully reasoned point of view on Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory. As the camera slowly zooms in on Said’s dispassionate face, the strength of cinema, and specifically the ability of the close up to evoke sympathy, is deeply apparent. This is powerful, if somewhat manipulative, imagery.
Perhaps more provocative yet is Abu-Assad’s appropriation of religious iconography and other famous religious tableaux, in particular his re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci’s "The Last Supper" with a cast of Palestinian freedom fighters in place of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles.
"What I tried to do is repaint the painting, or to retell the story," says Abu-Assad. "The story of killing yourself with your enemy is a biblical story. It’s a religious test – It was a myth, now it’s become a reality. I tried to retell the story, but not anymore from the God point of view but from the human point of view."
Regardless of the light source, this sort of audacious reconfiguration of recognizable images communicates what countless news reports cannot –namely that many Palestinians believe martyrdom is their only means of resistance. Yet, Paradise Now also discusses at some length the ideas of both pacifist resistance to and collaboration with the Israelis. In some ways, the film shows that both collaborators and martyrs leave the same legacy, given that the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory persists to this day.
"There is a difference between being (in the) resistance and being a collaborator, but there is also a similarity," says Abu-Assad. "Both want a better life. The collaborator…chooses the easy way, collaborating with power, in order to get better living conditions. The resistance chooses the hard way, and the heroic way, to create a better life. The collaborator chooses just his own interests, while the resistance fights for the interests of the others. But, anyhow, both can be the nightmare of their own people."
Paradise Now balances these differing perspectives, challenging viewers – no matter what side they may be on – to consider other points of view. It’s a delicate task, but Abu-Assad, who says he has the luxury to be a pacifist because he also holds a Dutch passport, insists he has only tried to show people, who may hold very strong political, religious and cultural beliefs, the complexity of the situation.
"I don’t think my film is part of either pacifist or non-pacifist resistance. I am a pacifist person, but that doesn’t mean that…I have the luxury to look down on other reactions," he says. "My father is not a hero, but he is a wealthy man who can protect me from evil.
"But, anyhow, there are a lot of people who are not like us. They don’t have this chance and they choose the violent way. The only thing that you have to do to understand it is to treat it as equal. Otherwise, looking down on anybody, it will create frustration, it will create more violence, and it will create the potential for misunderstanding." |
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