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The two recruits Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), have been friends since childhood and have never known a time of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. They believe that God wants them to strap bombs to bodies, travel to Tel Aviv, and then detonate these bombs separately in crowded areas. While these recruits are not religiously motivated, both feel the pent-up frustrations of a lifetime of oppression by the Israeli occupation. An organizer named Jamal (Amer Hlehel) tells them that the first bombing will kill a small number of soldiers and civilians but when more soldiers arrive, the second man will blow himself up together with the crowd that has gathered. Both Said and Khaled are outwardly committed and say that they have been chosen by God to become martyrs for the Palestinian cause. It is only when Suha (Lubna Azabal), the daughter of a revolutionary hero, develops a friendship with Said that he begins to question his mission. Though Suha's father was a martyr, she is the film's strongest voice for peace and states openly that she would prefer that her father was still alive. Said's father, on the other hand, was accused of being a collaborator with Israel and was executed when Said was ten years old, instilling in him a burning desire for retribution. When Suha asks Said to talk about his commitment to violence, He remarks, “Why talk? To get your pity, or to entertain people whose life is a little better?” At one point Khaled says, “As long as there is injustice there must be sacrifice. I would rather have paradise in my heart than live in this hell.” As the tension escalates, Abu-Hassad interjects a moment of humor. As Khaled is being filmed making his last statement with an automatic rifle in his hand, the camera malfunctions and he has to repeat his statement but only can manage to give a shopping tip to his mother about where to buy the best water filter. When the time grows closer to the event, the tension begins to escalate. Though their mission has been carefully planned, something goes wrong at the Israeli border and the outcome remains in doubt until the film's final unnerving moment. Unlike the remarkable 2001 documentary Promises, Paradise Now does not present a balance of political viewpoints, nor does it show the suffering experienced by the bombers' victims or their families. It simply shows two individuals cultivated to become martyrs as part of a tactic used for political advantage in a radicalized society. Said and Khaled are ordinary men and, like millions of others around the globe, are condemned to a life with no clearly discernible future. They are not depicted as monolithic wrongdoers but as human beings torn between ends and means, caught in a trap in which they see no way out. That is the sadness of the film and also its power. GRADE: B+
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