Paradise Now (1 Viewer)

[PaulP]

This Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Film (Palestine) is being released by WB on 03/21. Sorry if this is old news; I just noticed it, and a search didn't turn up a thread about it.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=59662

No word on extras, but I hope are some. A commentary would be great.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

There is a lot of controversy over this film, but people whom I trust that have seen it have spoken very highly of it and said that it doesn't glorify suicide bombers (which it has been accused of doing by some).

Should be interesting. (Let's try to keep the discussion of it civil, too!)

 

[Haggai]

Yeah, I saw it in a theater, and I'm at a bit of a loss as to how anyone could honestly read any glorification of suicide bombing into this movie. That certainly wasn't what I saw. I thought the story got bogged down near the end, with some character choices that seemed sudden and unmotivated, but there's some pretty fascinating stuff in it as well. Some of the minor characters--in particular, the "handler" who coaches the two would-be terrorists, and also the big boss of the terrorist group they're in--are VERY interestingly realized, and with great performances. The best thing about the movie is how it demonstrates some of the ways that the phenomenon of suicide bombing has become a part of every day life for many Palestinians, even if just in a tangential way.

At least one politically-based criticism I read of the movie was that it doesn't portray any Israeli views of the conflict, but...WTF? Of course it doesn't! It's about Palestinians! You want to hear both sides (and by that I just mean both sides of the conflict; anti-terrorism arguments on the Palestinan side are very prominently featured in this movie), go read a book, or watch a well-made documentary, there are several of them out there. I see no reason to expect such a thing from a narrative film that makes specific choices about which characters it depicts.

 

[PaulP]

I haven't seen the film; it never played around me. But from watching the trailer and reading about it, plus others' comments, I've come away with the feeling that it does nothing to glorify the terrorists. Roger Ebert said that it "humanizes suicide bombers. But in my mind, at least, that creates not sympathy, but pity", and I fully agree. It's a film that promotes hope and peace, not the opposite.

Can't find any word on extras, though.

 

[Ravi K]

I thought it was a good film, but not anything incredible. The Ebert quote Paul posted is apt.

This movie needs some decent extras. At least a commentary.