Paradise Now is a tale of 2 Palestinian suicide bombers - the last 2 days of their lives as they embark on destructive paths. Two ordinary men, auto mechanics in fact, volunteer themselves for the ’cause’ as they fight their enemy and their own demons.

As expected, one of the guys is on the verge of falling in love. He also has a very happy family (naughty brother, loving sister and doting mother - just a family dog was missing) who is oblivious of their sons decision to blow himself up the next day. But this melodramatic set-up is effective as it sets up some very poignant moments in the movie, where we see even ordinary things seem very deep. Like for instance, whilst video recording their last war mongering script to the people of Israel (similar to Bin laden tapes) he suddenly remembers a message which he forgot to tell his mom, so he adds “mama, I saw a cheaper water filter at the nazamul market - so don’t buy from Syed’s store” - all while holding a AK47 wearing martyr uniform. These kind of moments are sprinkled throughout the movie which effectively separates it from a documentary.

Shot on location inside Palestine - the filmmakers endured a lot of risk in canning the shots. Including Israeli missile attacks, kidnapping of crew and other extreme challenges. And, no, they didn’t use the car explosion footages in the movie - no doubt Shanker would have .If you thought this was a Palestinian propaganda machine at work, think again - this film was partially financed by Israeli Film Fund, and had a Israeli co producer. Following the 5th century “Art of War” by Tsu, it conveys the message ‘In order to fight an enemy you must know him fully’. Thought Israelis lobbied against it, it was nominated for an Oscar.

Very interesting film.

4/5