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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
      • 14 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

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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)

    User reviews163

    Featured review
    8/10

    Provides an interesting, albeit frightening, point of view

    After watching "Paradise Now" and reading the reviews on this site, I had to ask myself whether those who hated this film saw the same movie I did. It is entirely possible to watch this film and not side with the two protagonists. Why? Oh, I don't know, it's called having a rational, open mind.

    I never got the impression that the filmmakers were celebrating suicide bombers or condoning the actions of their two protagonists. What director Hany Abu-Assad attempts to do - and does it rather successfully - is show us the thought process that happens when people decide to do the unspeakable. We might not agree with the decision - at least, I certainly hope we don't - and we should be repulsed by what's happening. But the unmistakable truth is that these people exist and, whether we like to admit it or not, they firmly believe in what they're doing.

    Being objective, or trying to be, and humanizing people like Said and Khaled in the film isn't necessarily bad. I realize it's awfully easy for our leaders to simply brand them as monsters and "evildoers" and see the world in purely as good and evil, a world without complexities, subtleties and contradictions. It makes them feel good to spoon feed us trite sound bites and most of us seem to be quite willing to accept their mindless platitudes, phrases and talking points without debate or even an iota of skepticism.

    But when you humanize these characters, it makes them more terrifying. We realize they're not rabid monsters we can't know and understand. It makes what they do all that more alarming. When Bruno Ganz humanized Hitler in "Downfall" (2004), he didn't make Hitler any less evil; he just made us realize that a human being could be that horrible and, therefore, his actions were all the more despicable and frightening.

    The American public - as much as it might not want to admit it - needs to be educated and learn about what makes people like Said, Khaled and their comrades tick. It's too myopic (and ultimately unproductive) for us to simply toss them aside as evil. Our ignorance of foreign cultures and religions, especially Arab and Islam, is staggering. The media must share some of the blame. TV networks are more concerned about young, white women missing than foreign affairs. World news in this country essentially is limited to the goings-on Iraq. That, too, barely penetrates the surface. Not when you have to cut to breaking news of a new "development" in Aruba or the latest on Brad and Angelina. Afghanistan barely gets mentioned anymore, even though the Taliban seems to be gaining strength in several parts again. (Then again, even the Bush administration seems to have forgotten about that place.) And then networks have the audacity to put on talking-heads to pontificate on shows headlined, "Why they hate us."

    "Paradise Now" never asks us to support what the characters are doing. In fact, it provides a counterbalance to the characters by giving us a Palestinian woman who sees the futility in this enterprise. The film also never glorifies what these people are doing. It show us, and there's no implied endorsement of their actions. The acting is uniformly good and, above all, convincing. We may not agree with the subject matter and we should find the characters' actions loathsome. But that doesn't mean we simply brand the film as irresponsible.

    This is the world we live in, whether we like it or not. And we owe it to ourselves to learn and comprehend how the other side thinks. What they believe and why they do. Doesn't mean we have to like it. But we sure need to understand it.
    • anhedonia
    • Apr 20, 2006
    • Permalink

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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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