Paradise in vain

I watched the critically acclaimed 'Paradise Now' yesterday. The movie is about the never ending fight between Palestine and Israel. At a crisp 90 minutes, the movie beautifully portrays the life of two protagonists, who're close friends. It's a unique story, with both sides of the conflict effectively dissected through one side. This is the first Arabic film I've ever watched, and needless to say, I'm very impressed. Just like 'Motorcycle Diaries', never do you ever feel detached from the story. You immediately feel as if you're well conversant in Arabic.

The most poignant scene is when they start filming a proclamation by the suicide bomber, hours before he sacrifices himself. It's a tense moment. As the human bomb trembles under the weight of the Kalashnikov on one hand and the statement on the other, beads of sweat appear on his forehead. He desperately wants to turn back and run home. But he has taken a step forward which he believes is the right step for his people. To return would signify that he has given up on them. Fulfilling this deed would guarantee martyrdom. He can already see people renting and buying cassettes of his speech and remembering him as a holy brother who succeeded in furthering their cause. And so he reads from the parchment, unsure whether this sacrifice would offer him the bitter sweet cocktail of retribution, salvation, revenge and martyrdom.

Halfway through the discourse, he catches his mentor enjoying a sandwich through the corner of his eye. His rational yet conflicting inner voice grips him by the throat, unable to reconcile on falsely believing what his mentors have told him. This catches his mentor by surprise, as he was also exposed for a fraction of a second.

The irony of it all was open, the sandwich which gave way to it still in his palms. Yet he prods him to go on.

He finishes his speech, and then he comes to know that the camera had a problem. It didn't record anything, for something which felt like eternity to him. His mentor then nonchalantly asks him to repeat all of it again. He is not interested in petty feelings of yet another martyr. After all, the guy's as good as dead.