FKoE
08-15-2006, 08:36 PM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445620/
Excellent Cinema, that caused lot of controversy.
The Oscar nominated film 'Paradise Now' attempts to get inside the minds of Palestinian suicide bombers, so it's not surprising that it has caused a bit of controversy.
The film tells the story of two Palestinian men who are recruited for a suicide mission in Tel Aviv. With its recent Oscar nomination, the film is firmly back in the spotlight. Given the political climate in the Middle East, the Palestinian director always knew his subject matter would be controversial.
Hany Abu-Assad: "I'm not worried about these things because always cinema gives you the opportunity to live in the minds of people that you do not necessarily want to be with in reality, but in films you allow yourself to watch them and to go with them and understand them."
Said and Khaled, played by Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman, are best friends from childhood, but then they are tapped by a radical terrorist cell to carry out a suicide mission. The film follows them over the two days leading up to the deed, portraying them as human characters full of doubts and anxieties about carrying out their mission.
'Paradise Now' is part of a larger trend of films seeking to give a human face to terrorism, but can this attempt to humanize the terrorists really explain extremist behaviour?
MORE (http://www.bbcworld.com/content/talkingmovies_archive_07_2006.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=2)
Diplomats and Jewish groups are lobbying organisers of next month's Academy Awards not to present a nominated film about Palestinian bombers as coming from Palestine, an Israeli newspaper reports.
With Israelis and Palestinians locked in conflict over national claims on the same land, the provenance of the film Paradise Now is as combustible an issue as its plot before the 5 March ceremony, which will be watched by millions worldwide.
Paradise Now, a drama about two young men from the occupied West Bank recruited to blow themselves up in Tel Aviv, is up for the Oscar in the best foreign film category.
Many Israelis were irked when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in publishing the nomination, said Paradise Now came from Palestine.
While the tag remains on the academy's website, an Israeli diplomat said he expected the film to be described as coming
from the Palestinian Authority during the awards ceremony.
"Both the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and several concerned Jewish groups pointed out that no one, not even the Palestinians themselves, have declared the formal creation of Palestine yet, and thus the label would be inaccurate," the
diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The film involved Palestinian crews, an Israeli producer and European funding.
Labels
Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest daily, said on Sunday that the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and local Jewish groups were urging the academy to reconsider the national label.MORE (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9D85C7DE-D702-4F96-83FF-02133551A470.htm)
I highly recommend this film, despite the cynics views and opinions... its no more controversial than Speilbergs 'Munich' or Ken Loaches 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'.
All are insightful, and offer a hitherto unseen perspective
5 stars from me ;) ... and on the DVD shelf soon :)
Excellent Cinema, that caused lot of controversy.
The Oscar nominated film 'Paradise Now' attempts to get inside the minds of Palestinian suicide bombers, so it's not surprising that it has caused a bit of controversy.
The film tells the story of two Palestinian men who are recruited for a suicide mission in Tel Aviv. With its recent Oscar nomination, the film is firmly back in the spotlight. Given the political climate in the Middle East, the Palestinian director always knew his subject matter would be controversial.
Hany Abu-Assad: "I'm not worried about these things because always cinema gives you the opportunity to live in the minds of people that you do not necessarily want to be with in reality, but in films you allow yourself to watch them and to go with them and understand them."
Said and Khaled, played by Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman, are best friends from childhood, but then they are tapped by a radical terrorist cell to carry out a suicide mission. The film follows them over the two days leading up to the deed, portraying them as human characters full of doubts and anxieties about carrying out their mission.
'Paradise Now' is part of a larger trend of films seeking to give a human face to terrorism, but can this attempt to humanize the terrorists really explain extremist behaviour?
MORE (http://www.bbcworld.com/content/talkingmovies_archive_07_2006.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=2)
Diplomats and Jewish groups are lobbying organisers of next month's Academy Awards not to present a nominated film about Palestinian bombers as coming from Palestine, an Israeli newspaper reports.
With Israelis and Palestinians locked in conflict over national claims on the same land, the provenance of the film Paradise Now is as combustible an issue as its plot before the 5 March ceremony, which will be watched by millions worldwide.
Paradise Now, a drama about two young men from the occupied West Bank recruited to blow themselves up in Tel Aviv, is up for the Oscar in the best foreign film category.
Many Israelis were irked when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in publishing the nomination, said Paradise Now came from Palestine.
While the tag remains on the academy's website, an Israeli diplomat said he expected the film to be described as coming
from the Palestinian Authority during the awards ceremony.
"Both the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and several concerned Jewish groups pointed out that no one, not even the Palestinians themselves, have declared the formal creation of Palestine yet, and thus the label would be inaccurate," the
diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The film involved Palestinian crews, an Israeli producer and European funding.
Labels
Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest daily, said on Sunday that the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and local Jewish groups were urging the academy to reconsider the national label.MORE (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9D85C7DE-D702-4F96-83FF-02133551A470.htm)
I highly recommend this film, despite the cynics views and opinions... its no more controversial than Speilbergs 'Munich' or Ken Loaches 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'.
All are insightful, and offer a hitherto unseen perspective
5 stars from me ;) ... and on the DVD shelf soon :)