FILMS FROM THE 21st CENTURY
(Post 39 of 50)
Some quick takes on the most relatively recent listings from the
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list
The way you view Paradise Now may depend on the political perch upon which you sit. From the pro-Palestian perspective (and the filmmaker's perspective) the two young men recruited to go on a suicide bomber mission are doing their duty. The Palestinians are outgunned and oppressed by Israel and certainly don't have anything reassembling an Air Force like Israel, which the Israelis use to persecute the Palestinians around the clock. Even more so, one of the men talks about how Israel not only oppresses, but cleverly uses public opinion to make it seem that Israel is the country that is oppressed, or victims of aggression from the Palestinian state.
However, the other side of this controversial coin is offered up in the article linked below by Irit Linor from Israel Culture. The author of this article condemns Paradise Now for basically being a propaganda piece featuring two nice-looking Palestinians and sanitizes or excuses most Palestinian blame for violence any chance it gets. Also, noted is the lack of visual violence in the film which makes the actions of the bombers seem almost peaceful when they carry out their missions.
No matter what your point of view is, the implications brought out in Paradise Now is a lot to take in. See the movie, but see it with an open mind.
I tried watching this with an open mind, and i recognized the efforts of the film maker in trying to demonstrate the motivations of both sides. In the end, it was an unlikable movie which served only to normalize these kinds of behaviors. The telling of this story is better suited as a documentary.
ReplyDeletePolitically charged movies often don't work too hard to show the other side of an issue. This is true of documentaries, too.
ReplyDelete