Paradise Now

A film set in Nablus. Said and Khaled are friends from childhood. They work at a garage, sit on the hill in the evenings and talk, and their lives have been the same for years. One day a contact comes: the two have been chosen for an operation. They will cross into Tel Aviv the next day. The film covers the last twenty-four hours. A farewell meal, a video recording, a shave, new clothes and waiting. The whole preparation proceeds in a thoroughly ordinary order, and that ordinariness is the most disturbing thing about it. Something goes wrong at the crossing and the two lose each other. After that each is on his own and has to buy time. At the same time a woman named Suha comes into it. She grew up abroad, her father was a known figure and she is against violence; her conversations with Said carry the film's argument. What the narrative does is neither justify the two young men nor make devils of them; it shows how the decision is built and how fragile it is. Kais Nashif plays Said, Ali Suliman plays Khaled and Lubna Azabal plays Suha. Hany Abu-Assad directed. The shoot was made under difficult conditions and the crew met security problems in the area. The film won the Golden Globe for best foreign film and was nominated for an Academy Award. A strong production for anyone who likes political cinema and narratives of moral dilemma. For a viewer expecting a clear side, the film refuses to take one.