Deprived of Dignity

Paradise Now (2005) - Abu-Assad

Rarely one sees a good political thriller that humanizes its characters. Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assan does an amazing job at portraying two childhood friends/would be suicide bombers from Nablus, the Occupied Territory. The film is neither a by-the-numbers, robotic Paul Greengrass actioner with the apologist bent nor a satirical black comedy.

Two underemployed friends- sad eyed Said (Kais Nashef) and happy-go-lucky Khalid (Ali Suliman) are chosen to be martyrs. They will blow themselves up in Tel Aviv tomorrow. Just like that. They are not to talk to anyone about it. They seem to be not only resigned to the fact but giddy about the prospects, especially Khalid. After some technical snafu, they finally tape their video statement wherein Khalid gives his mom the tips where to buy water filters. They get half-hearted congratulatory remarks by the leaders, haircut, dinner, suits, the works. With bombs strapped to their chest, their plan gets thwarted by sudden appearance of Israeli Military vehicles at the border fence. Khalid safely gets back in time but Said is left near the border and gets lost. He unwittingly becomes a fugitive.

The film buys some time for two men to think about their options. The appearance of Suha (luminous Lubna Azabal of Incendies, Here), a woman from a well to do family, returning from Europe shakes things up a little bit. Paradise Now is a great balancing act, avoiding pitfalls of heavy handed political statement without ever losing sight on showcasing the mindset of the people whose dignity has been taken away by the occupation.

Invisible Borders

Here (2011) - King





Music video director Braden King (Bonnie Prince Billy, Dirty Three, Totoise)'s meta-road movie Here isn't quite what he hopes it to be. But it's still quite beautiful. Filled with stunning images of Armenia, affable actors (Ben Foster and luminous Lubna Azabal) and poetic audio-visual interludes (by different experimental film artists, narrated by Peter Coyote), it tries to invoke a dream state. But the whole set up is pretty much grounded in reality- Will, an American satellite mapping engineer, Gadarine, a semi-famous photographer, a prodigal daughter coming back home.

As they travel through Armenian countryside as their projects intersect, they fall in love. There are a lot to admire in Here: Foster and Azabal have real chemistry together and the film is gorgeous to look at. And I wish someone put up the compilation of all the Coyote interludes under one roof. Because I can watch them over and over and over again. I really do think wanderlust, being lost in somewhere not familiar is innate human nature. Will trying to eradicate 'the edge of the world' so everything can be viewed on google map and Gadarine's effort to preserve the fleeting moment of time and place clash despite their attractions.

In the age of google, what does it mean being here instead of over there? Why do people have to separate? These are questions King touches upon but never follows through. But does he have to? The film lets us ponder the arbitrariness of the invisible borders between places and human beings. I would've liked it a lot more if King went all abstract and non-linear. It's a lofty concept he is playing with, but not fully realized but only we can, in our minds long after the end of the film.