Imagery in Paradise Now

Okay, quickly here, some thoughts on the imagery from Paradise Now. The first scene that really struck me takes place when Suha (Lubna Azabal) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) are driving around in search of Said (Kais Nashef). The two of them have a debate regarding their alternate approaches to solving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Khaled seeing definite acts of violence and their attendant effects as the best way of achieving peace, Suha recommending peaceful politico-intellectual methods, i.e., debates and passive protests, as a more effective means of achieving mutually satisfactory ends, or at least a framework within which the possibility for achieving mutually satisfactory ends can be created. In this instance, Khaled can be thought of as employing a line of argumentation that believes equality will never be provided to subjugated people because their rulers seek assimilation or elimination rather than a community where both cultures can exist peacefully side by side. Hence, because dreaming of a peaceful political solution is naive and 'unrealistic,' we should strap a bomb to our chest and blow up the enemy so that afterwards angels can bring us to Heaven, which isn't so irrational when you consider the pervasive influence of religious fanaticism within a culture that uses such guidelines in order to create their rational and logical political and cultural methodologies (in a similar fashion to the ways in which the community within Rob Hardy's The Wicker Man functions). Even though the posture is also representative of lunacy.

Alternatively, you can form peaceful think-tanks that protest injustice effectively through hunger strikes, appeals to international tribunals, agreements to work with rather than for the oppressor in order to form a peaceful solution; a method that requires an extremely high degree of patience. Complex issues to be sure. It can be difficult for men to adopt the feminine point of view, especially within a culture firmly rooted in patriarchal rhetoric, for they are supposed to enter the 'world' and make a living in order to support their family. Their needs are immediate, tangible, and frightening, especially in a situation where a huge amount of impoverished aggression is attempting to compete with itself in order to forge a successful and long-lasting place within its culture (which is all the more staggering after you have found such a place and then have it destroyed by the Israeli army in retaliation for a suicide bombing from one of your counterparts, who wasn't as fortunate as you, ran out of patience, and sacrificed himself for his culture. Simultaneously, women can easily adopt the patient route if they are members of a society which does not provide their gender with any means through which they can form a substantial and influential political voice. Hence, they must remain patient, actually creating the resolve that traditionally minded men claim to have naturally, insofar as the strength and courage such women require in order to remain resolute in a situation where many of them are viewed as idiotic baby machines is of a much higher quality than that which simply engages in acts of violence (what is harder, to perennially fight with a boorish husband in order to have your peaceful, intelligent feminine point of view recognized and institutionalized so that its insurmountable strength can have the same kind of sophisticated cultural evaluation that surrounds its masculine counterpart, thereby forcing said masculine counterpart to recognize that what it claims to be its natural monopoly on wisdom is the product of an unjust patriarchal system that brutally castigates feminine methods of expression, or to blow yourself up in the name of God? What requires a more substantial variety of courage?). Even as Said and Suha race down the road searching for Khaled Said informs Suha that if she wasn't the daughter of a prominent Palestinian icon, he would likely be providing her with quite the beating, precisely because her points logically and rationally contradict his own (the point which contradicts the stereotype must be struck down by those who gain strength through its continuing affluence; by striking it down, the aggressor hopes that the physical examples that intelligently demonstrate its fallacious qualities will learn to remain silent: the basic and ugly formula for institutional bigotry). As Said and Suha travel down the road, an oncoming truck nearly strikes them as they accidentally swerve into the opposite lane. By including this scene, I think Abu-Assan is pointing out the fact that the debate held between these opposing ideologies is extremely complex, with no simple solutions. If, while having a debate, you crack the lens through which you usually view the world and from which you find guidance in order to live your life, it is possible for the terrifying force of the Real to manifest itself and quickly run you off the road. So pay attention to your principles while engaging in intellectual debates. The image of the oncoming truck contains more metaphorical weight as well, insofar as it also physically represents the force that Suha's reason has upon Said’s established identity, due to the fact that her wisdom breaks down part of his imperial conditioning, and opens up his mind to an alternate philosophy regarding existence.

Khaled experiences quite the shock, and near the film’s ending we see him in tears after he decides to no longer be a suicide bomber, while Said continues to refuse to listen. In the end, we see Said seated on a bus surrounded by Israeli soldiers. Earlier on in the film, Said was unable to enter and destroy a bus due to the fact that he sees an Israeli boy playing upon it. Because Said is surrounded by soldiers, we are lead to believe that he now has a legitimate target to attack. But we never see Said detonate the bomb, instead the screen turns white, representing either the consequences of an explosion, or the enlightenment gained by realizing that alternative methods of political expression exist. The light quickly fades to darkness, highlighting the fact that "this world is dark and this floating world is a dream" (Kurasawa's Hidden Fortress). No matter what decision is made or what ideology you accept, the outcome is in need of tenacious support, and whether that tenacity is manifested peacefully or aggressively is up to you, as is the decision you make regarding Said's final (in?)/action. I believe in Ghandi, and Suha, and that Said returned home to live with his family and perhaps raise one of his own, members of which helped disarm Palestine and Israel in order to create an egalitarian society, where aggressive tendencies are saved for paintball, and the world works together for the mutual benefit of all.

Note the subtle ways in which Abu-Assan highlights the beauty within Palestine throughout, whether it’s a romantic encounter between Said and Suha in the middle of the night, or the bounty of the tree growing within Said's house, supplying his family with fruit.

One more thing: Said's personality is dealing with the historical fact that his father was a collaborator and therefore insulted his families honour. Hence, he fights daily with his father's memory, trying to understand why he worked with the Israelis, wondering about things like honour and militant acts of justice.