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Paradise Now

  • 2005
  • PG-13
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
25K
YOUR RATING
Paradise Now (2005)
Trailer 1
Play trailer2:30
1 Video
44 Photos
CrimeDramaThrillerWar

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

  • Director
    • Hany Abu-Assad
  • Writers
    • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Bero Beyer
    • Pierre Hodgson
  • Stars
    • Kais Nashif
    • Ali Suliman
    • Lubna Azabal
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    25K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Writers
      • Hany Abu-Assad
      • Bero Beyer
      • Pierre Hodgson
    • Stars
      • Kais Nashif
      • Ali Suliman
      • Lubna Azabal
    • 163User reviews
    • 97Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 15 wins & 17 nominations total

    Videos1

    Paradise Now
    Trailer 2:30
    Paradise Now

    Photos43

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    Top cast40

    Edit
    Kais Nashif
    Kais Nashif
    • Said
    Ali Suliman
    Ali Suliman
    • Khaled
    Lubna Azabal
    Lubna Azabal
    • Suha
    Hamza Abu-Aiaash
    • Checkpoint Soldier
    Lutuf Nouasser
    Lutuf Nouasser
    • Car Owner
    • (as Lotuf Neusser)
    Mohammad Bustami
    • Abu-Salim
    Ahmad Fares
    • Tea Boy
    Waleed On-Allah
    • Taxidriver Suha
    Asaad Dwikat
    • Shawarma Shop Owner
    Imad Saber
    • Shawarma Customer
    Mohammad Kosa
    • Photographer
    Amer Hlehel
    Amer Hlehel
    • Jamal
    Hiam Abbass
    Hiam Abbass
    • Said's Mother
    Nour Abd El-Hadi
    • Said's Sister
    Amjad Al-Imlah
    • Said's Brother
    Dina Titi
    • Khaled's Sister
    Yosef Abo Dheir
    • Khaled's Father
    Sadi El-Masri
    • Khaled's Attendant
    • Director
      • Hany Abu-Assad
    • Writers
      • Hany Abu-Assad
      • Bero Beyer
      • Pierre Hodgson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews163

    7.424.5K
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    Featured reviews

    8gradyharp

    Boundaries, Checkpoints, and Martyrdom

    PARADISE NOW opens windows of information to those of us who do not live in the Middle East and who toil over understanding the strife that daily bitterly continues, bruising the lives of both ends of the polarity that separates the peoples of the region. Are there ever to be answers or solutions to the crises? For this viewer watching and absorbing PARADISE NOW is illuminating in that it removes the expected political preaching to focus on the minds of the people living under the daily stress of life at its most difficult. Taking us there, making ideas into people with all the convictions and rebelliousness and fragility, writer/director Hany Abu-Assad (with Bero Beyer) offers invaluable insights and in the end we are left with a story about humanity and the consequences of decisions, and the desperate need for peace.

    Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) are childhood friends in Palestine who have been elected to be suicide bombers in an attack on Tel Aviv. Their election to be martyrs for the destruction of the 'invaders' is considered an honor: their deaths will bring glory to their country, their families, and guarantee them instant entry into heaven. We see the two men as citizens living in the dusty hovels, facing barricades and checkpoints that make their lives ones of constant stress. Martyrdom will bring them peace and eternal rest. The entire process of preparing the elected martyrs, from making farewell videotapes for their parents, to having their hair cut short, to having the bombs strapped to their bodies, to dressing them in black suits for the 'wedding' they are instructed to claim to attend in Tel Aviv, to sending them off at the designated spot is relentlessly filmed. Said and Khaled accept their roles although with varying degrees of emotional commitment. At the point where the lads are to begin their martyrdom venture they are separated and the story is how each continues living, each now alone.

    The families and the perpetrators of the scheme are well drawn by a strong cast, with one female role Suha (Lubna Azabal) as a voice of reason and peace standing out particularly strongly. The sensitivity of the actors Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman keeps this drama from sinking into politicism and instead allows us to understand the inner turmoil of the two men they portray as they cope with their duties and their lives.This is a powerful document that serves as a plea for peace wherever terrorism is a factor - and now that is global. If more of us could watch and absorb films such as PARADISE NOW perhaps the itinerant boundaries separating mankind by misunderstanding could be reduced without the need for war. Highly Recommended. In Arabic with English subtitles. Grady Harp
    8StevePulaski

    When humanity triumphs oversimplifications

    If I were to tell you that Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now is about two suicide bombers, you'd probably wince a little. However, if I told you that the film was a humanization of two Palestinian men planning to conduct a suicide attack on Israel and that the film paints a respectable portrait of the moral and human complexities involved in such an extreme plan, I'd hope you'd think twice. The film concerns Said and Khaled (Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman), two lifelong friends living in Nablus, working rote jobs as mechanics and passing their time by discussing Israeli-Palestinian conflicts over hookah. The two are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, and go about their daily lives, maintaining as much normalcy as they can in public until they comfortable hide away in a secret hideout with numerous other Palestinian extremists, carrying out their plans of action. These involve complex, down-to-the-minute plans being orchestrated along with the creation and promotion of videos glorifying and praising Allah in the midst of orchestrating these attacks.

    A key humanization comes during the filming of the video glorifying Allah. Said stands tall, hoisting a rifle and talking about his loyalty to Allah and the message he brings. After one take, the director discovers the video didn't record properly, so they're forced to set up and do it again. Another technical-difficulty occurs during the second taping before the third taping gets it right on the money. Following the director's demand to "cut," Said yells upstairs to his mother that he found water filters cheaper at a place they normally don't go to.

    Such dialog seems trite and padded, but writers Abu-Assad, Bero Beyer, and Pierre Hodgson include these kind of things as a reminder that these suicide bombers are, one, indeed human, two, have families, and three, don't always operate with the kind of breakneck sophistication that we see dramatized on Television shows and Hollywood movies. Mainstream American cinema has had us quietly conditioned to think that everyone in the Middle East is an enemy that possesses enough power and wit to take down America and all its people, almost encouraging us to sleep with one eye open. Abu-Assad, in an act of deviance, shows us the kind of amateur setups these operations often are and the humanity of the characters that are involved with these sort of incidents.

    In all the glorification, the frenzied reports, and the fear-mongering in America that concerns the Middle East, America's war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the proclaimed War on Terror, Paradise Now is a refreshing and necessary watch to at least give us a more realistic view on how these operations can be conducted. It's rare we see characters like terrorists and suicide bombers drawn in multiple layers, if even presented as characters at all, so the fact that Nashef and Suliman's characters are given names and personalities is a huge step in a progressive direction. The bravery to make a film like this and rise above all the nonsense was a bold feat on part of Abu-Assad and his crew, who had to jump through several hoops to get this film made.

    From attacks on the set, to interference from actual protest, to threats of censorship from the Israeli government, Paradise Now was in production in the 1990's, but repeated incidents of drama and danger prevented its completion until 2005. Following its release, it became the first Palestinian film to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, deservingly so. In response, Abu-Assad made probably one of the best comments that could've been made about the film's recognition, saying, "the politicians want to see it as black and white, good and evil, and art wants to see it as a human thing," reminding people that, at the end of the day, these are human lives we're talking about on both ends of the spectrum and that fact should never be lost despite being amidst a wealth of oversimplifications.

    Starring: Kais Nashef, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, and Hiam Abbass. Directed by: Hany Abu-Assad.
    7Zzazza

    A must see for everyone.

    Paradise now is a very realistic film about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Therefore it's a very contemporary film concerning a topic that still receives a lot of media attention.

    The film follows Said and Khaled, two friends who are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel-Aviv. However, something goes wrong and the attack is postponed. Said and Khaled now have the time to think about what they are going to do.

    The feelings of the two leading characters are carefully explained and brought to you very realistically by an outstanding performance of Ali Suliman and Kais Nashef. Though it's a little long-winded in the end the story is excellently written. The film explains a difficult situation without taking a stand or forcing you to do so. People who've seen this film will hopefully better understand the Israel-Palestine situation.

    Conclusion: Paradise Now is a brilliantly made movie and a must see for everyone.
    10brunoccassiano

    Behind the terrorist, a human being

    Some people can consider Paradise Now as propaganda, however, in my humble opinion, this movie is much more than a story about the situation in Palestine. It's a movie that shows how human beings can do horrible things when they are oppressed and how this behavior even seem to make sense when you're taught from the childhood that doing such things is the only way to get freedom.

    It's obvious that suicide bombers are murderers, but it's also obvious that they are victims from Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel, USA and everyone that gets profits with the violence in the Middle East, so this movie wasn't special to me for showing some kind of sympathy for terrorism if it does. The role of this movie for me was to show a humanized version of a group of people that I usually only take acknowledge by the TV as people whose only objective is to kill the highest possible amount of people.

    Here in Brazil we don't have ethnic or religious wars. Here, Palestinians and Jews live sometimes in the same neighborhood and there's never been a terrorist attack. On the other hand, we've got extremely serious problems with violence caused by the oppression that poor people suffer from the Police, that seems only to exist to protect the rich. In May, a criminal organization called PCC (Capital's First Command) attacked more than a hundred of places (most Police stations) in São Paulo, killing approximately one hundred people.

    Are these criminals originally bad or their acts are just the consequence of an extremely unequal society? Well, on the TV we only see the criminals and the terrorists, but thank God we have movies like City of God, Carandiru and Paradise Now to show us the human beings.
    9skyritz

    powerful film

    I thought this was a very powerful and well-made film. The acting was excellent, as are the script, direction, and cinematography. Perhaps the biggest challenge with a film on such a controversial topic is what position it takes, but as a moderate American Jew, I felt it took as objective a position as possible. It does not push one side or another, but merely tells one story about two men chosen for a suicide bombing mission. I was concerned there might be an attempt to get the viewer to sympathize with the would-be bombers, but did not find that to be the case. Ultimately, the story leads you to sympathize with the families and friends of these men, demonizes those who have led them down this path, and simply humanizes the men themselves. There have been some criticisms of the film for focusing too much on Palestinians and essentially reducing the Israelis in the film to background and setting, but I think this was necessary. This is not a documentary about suicide bombings; it is the story of two of the suicide bombers themselves.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      When the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, much controversy surrounded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' decision to designate it as a submission from the Palestinian Authority, rather than Palestine. Due to much protestation from writer-director Hany Abu-Assad, the film was eventually announced by Will Smith as being a submission from the Palestinian territories.
    • Goofs
      When Khaled makes his speech for the second time, two of the people watching him are eating pitta. The man with the purple T-shirt is holding the pitta with his right hand in one shot, with his left in the next.
    • Quotes

      Said: I was born in a refugee camp. I was allowed to leave the west Bank only once. I was 6 at the time and needed surgery. Life here is like life imprisonment. The crimes of the occupation are countless. The worst crime of all is to exploit the people's weaknesses and turn them into collaborators. By doing that, they not only kill the resistance, they also ruin families, ruin their dignity, and ruin an entire people. When my father was executed, I was 10 years old. He was a good person. But he grew weak. For that, I hold the occupation responsible. They must understand that if they recruit collaborators, they must pay the price for it. A life without dignity is worthless. Especially when it reminds you day after day, of humiliation and weakness. And the world watches cowardly, indifferently. If you're all alone, faced with this oppression... you have to find a way to stop the injustice. They must understand that if there's no security for us there'll be none for them either. It's not about power. Their power doesn't help them. I tried to deliver this message to them but I couldn't find another way. Even worse, they've convinced the world and themselves that they are the victims. How can that be? How can the occupier be the victim? If they take on the role of oppressor and victim then I have no other choice but to also be a victim and a murderer as well. I don't know how you'll decide, but I will not return to the refugee camp.

    • Connections
      Featured in The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2006 (2006)

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    FAQ19

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 2005 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Israel
      • Netherlands
      • Occupied Palestinian Territory
      • Germany
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Japan)
      • Warner Independent Pictures (United States)
    • Languages
      • Arabic
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El paraíso ahora
    • Filming locations
      • Nablus, Palestine
    • Production companies
      • Augustus Film
      • Lama Productions
      • Razor Film Produktion GmbH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,457,843
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $48,023
      • Oct 30, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,579,902
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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