Paradise Now (2005) Movie Script

Are you going to Nablus?
It's crooked.
- What?
- It's crooked.
- The bumper?
- Yes, what do you think?
- But it's new.
- Maybe so, but it's crooked.
I'll take it back to check it.
That won't do any good,
it's crooked.
- Doesn't look it to me
- Or is it that I'm blind?
You could be wrong.
- Appearances are deceiving.
- Look, kid
I see very well,
thank Allah.
- It's not crooked.
- It is, it's crooked.
- There's nothing more to see.
- No, there is.
Abu Salim should come to see it.
- What?
- That.
- It will be because you see bad.
- What did you say?
It's straight.
Let Abu Salim see,
he'll tell you.
Check with a level.
Who sees bad?
You see bad.
Look, it's not the bumper,
it's the ground.
Don't trick me,
I have eyes.
The ground is sloped,
the bumper is fine.
Where is Abu Salim?
I want to talk to him.
Abu Salim isn't here,
we can resolve this.
Didn't you hear me?
Call Abu Salim.
It's crooked
like your father.
- Which side is crooked?
- The right.
Well, you're right - it is crooked.
You risk losing me work.
- Why didn't you say anything?
- It wasn't Said, it was me.
You'll end up in jail
and nobody will go to see you.
- Hi.
- Hi Suha, how's it going?
You know,
Life has many twists and turns.
- Do you have my car?
- Sure.
He's already a grandfather.
Said, take a look.
Come here, Khaled.
Still not finished.
Why do have this old car?
Buy yourself a new one.
I like old cars,
They kind of go with me.
You'd like an Alfa Romeo
much better.
An Alfa, do you think?
There aren't any many
in the West Bank.
Because the spare parts are expensive
and hard to find.
The truth is,
cars don't interest me much.
But I like the name.
Alfa Romeo.
You can pick it up tomorrow,
the Othman checkpoint is closed.
- Do you mind?
- Doesn't matter to me.
Don't make fun of my accent.
I was born in France,
and grew up in Morocco.
- And now I have returned.
- Welcome.
Thanks,
I'll see you tomorrow?
If Allah wills it.
- It worked.
- There is wind...
What are you doing tomorrow?
Looking for work, I have to.
Where did you get that cassette? Belt?
I'm not familiar with it.
I found it.
In Suha's car.
Did you find it or steal it?
I'm going to return it.
I think you like her.
Forget it.
You're lucky,
she's the daughter of Abu Assam.
OK, OK, I'll shut up.
Just in time.
It's cold.
Can you close the window?
There's too much wind.
The electric windows
are broken. I'm sorry.
I can't.
It costs a thousand shekels to repair it.
It's too expensive.
Some day everything is going to be better.
You're not from here.
Are you married?
What did you ask?
- If you are married.
- See you tomorrow.
- See you.
- Hey, how's it going?
- Hey, what's up?
- Same as always out there.
- There's a lot that you don't get to see.
- I haven't moved from here.
- In Sweden,
the cars respect
the traffic lights.
The pedestrians look
where they're crossing.
But they have a higher percentage
of suicides.
What?
What do you find so interesting with
that awful place?
They're crazy.
And I've never seen
a queen so ugly.
But she has a nice face.
She tells us how to deal
with informers.
We care less about her
than the collaborators.
It would be better to kill
them all.
Drag them into the street
and shoot them.
- Who?
- The collaborators.
Of course.
Their families, their neighbors
and anyone who gives them money.
You would kill them all?
Why the friends and their family too?
What happened to you, are you Swedish?
A little further back.
A little more.
That's it,
three centimeters to the left.
That's it, perfect.
Lift your head a little.
Less.
Back more.
Another step back.
That's it, don't move.
Come on, a smile.
Come on, smile.
If you don't smile
I can't take the photo.
I don't want to.
I can't make you.
You're in a hurry?
OK, I'll have them tomorrow.
- Good night.
- Good night.
How are you?
Good, you?
Can't complain.
How's it going in the garage?
- Same as always.
- They fired Khaled?
- Yes, but it wasn't his fault.
- This time.
It surprised me
that it took so long.
Do you remember
the martyr Abu Assam?
Although it cost him
his safety,
he said that to fear death
is to be dead.
And he had no don't doubt that
death would come soon enough,
without pain.
He drove the Mossad nuts.
They spent millions
to capture him.
When they surrounded him,
he knew that he was finished.
He opened the door and shouted:
"You've come too late."
Listen, Said.
We've decided to take revenge.
On the killers of Abu Hazem
and the son of Um Jaber
who died
in the air raid.
It will be tomorrow in Tel Aviv.
Khaled and you have been chosen.
You will go together, like you wanted.
Tomorrow?
Yes, are you ready?
Yes, of course. It's the will of Allah.
You'll spend the night
with your family.
You already know
that you cannot reveal it to anyone.
Sure.
I will be with you
until you go.
- Are you happy?
- I am. I give thanks to Allah.
Mama.
You're very late.
You're preoccupied.
"You're very late.
You're preoccupied."
If I'm so late,
then tie me up with the dog.
- I'm sure that we don't have one.
- Quiet, quiet.
- How are you, Jamal?
- Very well.
And school?
Less trouble than taking care of the kids?
I'm trying,
education is important.
Please.
Thanks, Said.
Take off that shirt.
It's my favorite
and you wore it to work.
I didn't know it.
Jamal is going to sleep here, mama.
- The street is cut off.
- You're always welcome.
- Take it off.
- Enough.
I got a permit for Israel.
Tomorrow I am going to work
in Tel Aviv.
- When did you get it?
- Today.
Congratulations,
it's fantastic, my son.
- Have you spoken with Abu Salim?
- Not yet.
You should - you were lucky
that he hired you.
He has plenty guys
to work cheap.
Don't sing a victory song yet,
you should find work.
But tell me,
how do you get through,
young people, now that you can go?
They're starting to let people pass.
Jamal is in charge of everything.
Allah bless Jamal.
Take this.
But what is this?
What's happening?
What's going on?
- But, what is this?
- What is happening?
Stop being a fool
you're driving me up the wall.
- Have you eaten?
- Yes, thanks.
Can I stay to sleep?
They have cut off the road.
You are always welcome.
I already told you
that you could stay.
Pass me the salt.
Salt, Jamal?
You're so good,
you know how to cook.
Thanks.
Have you changed the filter, mama?
The water was better before.
Shut off that radio
that you brought in.
Said.
What happened, did something happen?
- I brought you the keys.
- What?
You brought me the keys?
At four in the morning?
Yeah, I know...
I took them without asking.
Well...
- Maybe this is a bad time and...
- Come in.
- What?
- Come in, now that you are here.
I can't.
I've got to go.
Tea?
- How much sugar?
- Four teaspoons.
You are one of those who takes their
sugar with tea.
OK, I resign myself to three.
There is something that I don't understand.
Why do they use so much sugar in Nablus?
It's the custom,
Everyone does it.
OK.
Listen, what do you do
when you're not delivering keys at dawn?
What do you do to have fun?
I don't know, nothing.
- What are you saying?
- Do you go to the cafes?
At times, to smoke the nargila.
And besides that,
do you do sports, do you read?
Do you go to the movies?
No, in Nablus there are no movies.
Yeah, I know.
But at some point you went to the movies?
Yes, it's been ten years.
We burned the "Rivoli" cinema.
You burned the cinema?
There were a lot of us.
Sure, but why would you have
done that to the cinema?
Not to the cinema, to Israel.
They would close the way
to the workers of the West Bank.
And we went out into the street
to protest.
We finished in the cinema
and we set it on fire.
Why the cinema?
Why us?
I don't know.
We kept the video.
- Oh, so you do see films.
- At times.
Well, tell me,
which is your favorite "genre"?
Which is my favorite "genre"?
Don't make fun of my "genre".
Oh... what type.
There are action films,
science fiction, documentaries...
- What makes you cry?
- And what bores you?
What bores me?
- Like?
- Like life.
I don't believe you.
I'm sure that your life
is not boring.
Look,
I believe that your life is like
a minimalist Japanese film.
May Allah bless you.
Is it true that you're
Abu Assam's daughter?
They said that he was a hero.
You should be very proud of him.
I would prefer to have him alive
to being proud of him.
Our cause continues to live
today thanks to him.
There are many ways
of staying alive.
It doesn't depend on us.
The occupation shapes
the resistance.
Resistance can take
many forms.
But we should recognize
that we are lacking military force.
There are those who look for other
alternatives.
To accept the defeat
of our grandfathers?
The injustice?
This conversation
is going nowhere.
Are you coming back?
Hopefully.
Good.
Goodbye, night visitor.
Khaled.
Here.
Listen, Khaled,
why does your father limp?
During the first intifada,
they came into the house.
The Israelis let him choose
which leg he wanted to keep.
I would have let them break both of mine
before I would let them humiliate me.
It's incredible
how you much you look like your father.
Come, sit a while
and drink the coffee.
Tell me about it.
How was it?
What's gotten into you this morning?
Was it like the people said?
Forget it.
It's the past.
Allah took pity on him.
Said.
What your father did,
he did it for us.
Yes, but...
The world is changing.
Everything changes except Allah.
Now that's the truth.
Ah...
You don't have a future.
What a fool...
you frightened me.
When will you grow up?
Good day.
Good day, Jamal.
There is coffee.
No thanks, we have to go.
What can we do
if there is no justice or liberty?
There is no remedy except
to fight.
If we accept
that the strong would eat the weak,
we are no better
than animals.
It's unacceptable.
It's better to die
than to be the inferior ones.
He who fights for liberty
gives his life for it.
You will change all of this.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Hi, Jamal.
It's our turn.
In the name of Allah,
the merciful one.
In the holy book, Allah says:
"If they harm you,
they harm my people".
In times like these,
Allah recognizes the believers
and chooses the martyrs.
Allah does not love the unjust.
Allah speaks the truth.
In response to the occupation,
the injustice and the crimes,
and in order to support the resistance,
I have decided to sacrifice myself.
The only thing we can do is to fight.
For Israel, to live
with the Palestinians as equals
inside a democratic system
is equivalent to a suicide.
Neither does it accept the solution
of two states,
even though it is an attitude
to the detriment of the Palestinians.
We are only left with accepting
the occupation or disappearing.
We have forced an end
to the occupation
with political means
and peaceful means
But Israel puts up
more settlements
and throw us out of Jerusalem
and to engage in 'ethnic cleansing'.
It uses its war machine
and its political and economic power
to force us to accept
its conditions
to convert us
to being inferior or to die.
But, as a martyr,
I do not fear death.
Only this way would I come out victorious.
And conquer the threats
of their political and military power.
I want to die as a martyr.
Dear parents,
I ask your forgiveness
for leaving this way,
but soon we will be together again.
Goodbye to you.
There is only one God,
and Mohammed is his prophet.
Allah speaks the truth.
How is it?
You haven't recorded,
something isn't working correctly.
Something happened,
we'll try it again.
In the name of Allah,
the merciful one.
- In the holy book...
- Stop, stop.
It's not working.
- Fix it, you idiot!
- Calm down, Khaled.
Now you can make it better,
you have another chance.
Ready.
In the name of Allah,
the merciful one.
Allah said: "If they harm you,
they harm my people".
In times like these...
Ma,
before I forget,
there are water filters
in Al Mokhtar.
They are cheaper
than the ones from Kanaze.
Better buy them there.
Is that for the video?
No, but I forgot
to tell it to my mother.
Fine.
In the name of Allah,
the merciful one.
We will continue the fight
until the end.
We only dispose
of our bodies
against the occupation.
Can you hold it?
Pretty good.
Abu Karem.
- Good day.
- Good day.
- Which one is Said and which is Khaled?
- I'm Khaled.
I'm Said.
It's a great honor to meet you
before you leave.
Praise Allah, you have great character.
- Have you eaten well?
- Yes, very well, thank Allah.
- It has been explained to them?
- They're all set.
It is a great honor
that very few achieve.
Allah willing, when you have ascended to heaven,
we will take care of everything
here below.
We will honor your heroism.
Some request?
I hope
that my family
will not suffer reprisals.
I want our photo
to be put up in the plaza.
We are proud of you.
We are united,
we will protect your families.
Let's go.
It is the first important
operation in two years.
It has been carefully planned,
we will surprise everyone.
You were not chosen at random.
We knew that you would be capable
of doing it.
We will always be with you.
We are proud.
So, the legend in person.
These belts are new,
they have a closure mechanism.
When they are activated,
no one can open them.
Only us.
Trying to open them is enough
to make them explode.
If the soldiers find out,
you will be shot.
You must be quicker than they are
and detonate them by pulling
on this cord.
If the moment arrives,
you will kill many soldiers.
If you are noticed,
they will not risk themselves.
If they have the least suspicion,
they will shoot you,
from a safe distance.
You should pull
the cord before.
Do you understand?
On the other side of the barricade
there will be a man named
Abu Shabaab.
He will take you to the place.
One of the two will go first.
The other will follow
It's more effective.
Then there will be
many soldiers and police.
The second bomb
will do more damage.
Very well planned.
Here is money
and false identification.
Memorize the information.
If someone questions you about something,
let Abu Shabaab give the answers.
In Tel Aviv, you are from Jerusalem
and you are going to a wedding.
- Whose wedding?
- It doesn't matter.
Above all,
do not be afraid of the soldiers.
Look them in the eyes,
without blinking.
Remember that you control them.
Their lives are
in your hands.
Stay calm.
If a soldier grabs you,
he's a dead man.
He is betting everything
because he fears death.
If you don't fear death,
you control life.
If he insists on searching you
it will be the gates of heaven.
We will see who searches who.
Leave it in the hands of Allah.
Another thing.
When the first one does it,
it is better that the other one not look.
And then?
You will go home two angels.
Are you sure?
Of course.
Now you will see for yourself.
Wait here.
I will check to be sure
that everything is in order.
Khaled.
What?
- We're not making a mistake are we?
- But, what are you saying?
Absolutely not.
In an hour we will be heroes.
We will be with Allah
in paradise.
We've already said it.
You told me
that we don't have a choice.
Under the occupation,
we are already dead.
I know, I know.
But, isn't there any other way?
- Are you afraid?
- No, I'm not afraid.
I don't know.
Soon you will know.
In as much as we can...
Is it true that before you die
you see your entire life passing
as if it were a video?
Do you believe that is true?
I'm with you.
Let's go.
Look what you've done to yourself.
Good, Abu Shabaab is there.
He's Israeli, but cooperative,
we pay him well.
He doesn't speak Arabic,
do you speak much English?
- I can get by.
- Good.
Very good.
Read the Koran and pray.
Well,
who will be the first?
- Me.
- Me.
- Heads or tails?
- Tails.
Tails.
Good luck guys.
What happened?
- And Said?
- I don't know.
- Where's Said?
- He's disappeared.
We've got to look for him.
The helicopters will come,
we can't wait.
Take out a description with a photo,
in order to find him.
Remove the explosives,
what are you waiting for?
Rip it off,
it will hurt less.
- You couldn't use another thing?
- It's the best system.
We weren't thinking
that we would have to take it off.
And now?
We wait.
Brothers,
it will be better that we go.
It could be that they've caught Said
or that he was a traitor.
We should tell all the members
that they have been in contact with him.
I know Said,
he has not betrayed us.
It's only a precaution.
Jamal.
We planned this operation
for many months.
You said that you would be
responsible for them.
I've known them forever.
It's put a lot of fighters
in danger.
Scatter them all except
for a few.
Logically,
Abu Shabaab is the traitor.
I really doubt it.
He didn't show up until after
the operation.
To the roof tile factory.
Close the door again.
Pull it shut, quickly,
with a slam.
? For a wedding?
Dressed like that, I'm sure that
you're not going to deliver roof tiles.
I'm going to a wedding...
At the factory?
Contaminated water?
There's nothing
like the Kanaze filters.
Kanaze filters,
the most pure water.
Filters!
Not all the filters in the world
will clean the water contaminated
by the settlers.
Have you heard about the water?
Yes, it's not important...
No, I don't know it.
No?
Apparently, it contains a product
that attacks the quality of the sperm.
Even though they use it for rat poison,
it doesn't affect me.
I already have five sons, five.
The operation is postponed,
now they will be looking for us.
Said has not betrayed us,
something happened, I know it.
It was too well planned.
Something is going wrong.
We won't have to wait long to know
what is happening.
But it is better to be prudent.
Said is carrying a bomb on his back,
How is he going to meet us?
If he's talked, a missile can drop
in an instant and kill us.
Well let me go alone.
We are waiting to find out
what happened.
He has not betrayed us,
I know that.
Let me go look for him,
I know how he reacts.
I will find him.
I've got to find him,
the operation must continue.
Here.
If we had had them before...
They are too easy to trace.
Abu Shabaab was going to give
you one in Tel Aviv.
Find Said
before the day is over.
Or we will have to settle things ourselves.
Said.
Are you going to get married?
No, I...
Is Khaled here?
- Where is Said?
- I don't know.
- You've come back to get him in trouble.
- Lord, no...
- But, come in.
- No, I'm in a hurry.
And this suit?
I have to go.
Please, if he comes,
give him this telephone number.
It's important. Goodbye.
Is someone there?
- Excuse me, have you seen Khaled?
- He already left.
- Did he say anything?
- No, nothing special.
- Can I go to wash up?
- Sure.
- Isn't that Said?
- Yes.
Why does he look
like a settler?
You can't change destiny.
There is no other way out.
You are a volunteer for Allah.
Come on, it's already late.
What is going on,
you've gone with your friend?
- Tomorrow I will not come.
- And that suit, something happening?
- Tomorrow I won't come.
- OK, but make coffee.
- Has Khaled come?
- Luckily, I've freed myself of him.
- Everything is OK?
- Very well.
If you have problems,
you can count on me.
What is that?
- Hi.
- Hi.
- It's not working well.
- That didn't last long.
It started to make
this horrible noise, can you hear it?
I will tell Said
to take a quick look.
Said!
Said!
- Better for you to stay inside.
- I'm OK here.
I can't work wearing that.
- Idiot!
- Go to hell!
That's it.
You can go, it's fixed.
- What do you want?
- Something happened to you.
- Yesterday you weren't like this.
- Nothing is happening to me.
Why are you so weird?
Nothing is happening to me, it's the truth.
Said!
Said, the watch,
I'm so sorry.
Said.
It doesn't matter.
No, it's a problem.
What do you want to do?
- I'll bring it in for repair.
- No, leave it.
Abu Salim!
- Have you seen Said?
- It's you.
I thought I was free of you.
And the car, the suit?
- Doesn't matter. Have you seen him?
- He's gone with a customer.
- What?
- With his favorite customer.
Suha, daughter of Abu Assam.
They'll fix it right away it.
I'll feel better.
- Are you?
- Suha...
Go ahead.
No, better you.
It wasn't anything important.
Stop, the store is there.
You seem annoyed.
- Annoyed?
- Yes.
No, you've seen me
when I'm annoyed.
Excuse me, what is this tape?
- The farewell of a martyr?
- Yes.
Also it's about the collaborators.
What?
Their confessions
before they shot them.
Let's go.
- But, do you sell or rent them?
- Both.
How much?
Well, if you buy them,
they're 15 shekels each.
But if you rent them,
it's only 3 shekels.
Thanks, we're going?
The cost is the same
if it's a martyr or a collaborator?
The truth is, I could ask for more
for the collaborator videos.
There's a greater demand.
But I would have to reprogram
the cash register.
Well, bye.
You forgot your watch.
Does it seem normal to you
that they sell these tapes?
- Is there anything normal here?
- It makes me sick.
Three million fight
for survival.
Nablus is a jail.
I don't know what I'm doing here,
all of this is shit!
My father was a collaborator.
They executed him.
I was ten years old then.
- I'm so sorry.
- No, don't let it bother you.
How are you taking it?
Well...
It's not as bad as it seems.
You want to talk
about it?
For what?
Would it stop the occupation?
Will I forget that my father
was a collaborator?
Everyone knows it.
- I didn't know it.
- Naturally.
You live in another world,
daughter of Abu Assam,
in a good neighborhood.
Why are you saying that?
To speak for the ones that you pity?
In order to entertain
the living a little more?
- Have you seen Said?
- Another suit?
- No, no, no!
- Where is Said?
Where? Tell me!
He was heading East.
- His father's grave.
- Wait!
Why are you doing this?
Tell me!
In life there are no equals,
we're only equals in death.
You were capable of killing
and of dying for equality,
you can find a way
to be equal in life.
- Yeah, with your human rights?
- Why not?
At least the Israelis
wouldn't have excuses for killing us.
Don't be naive,
there won't be freedom without a fight.
While, there is injustice,
someone must sacrifice themselves.
It's not a sacrifice,
it's revenge.
If you kill, there's no difference
between the victims
and the oppressors.
If we had an air force,
we wouldn't need martyrs
there's the difference.
The difference is that, as it is,
the Israeli's continue being
more powerful militarily.
In death we are equals.
- Paradise awaits us.
- Paradise doesn't exist!
- It exists in your head!
- Allah doesn't want you!
May Allah forgive you.
If you weren't the daughter
of Abu Assam...
I prefer to believe in paradise
than living in hell.
With this life,
we are already dead.
I choose death
if the alternative
is so much more bitter.
And what happens to us?
To those that remain?
Do you believe that we come out winning?
Don't you see that this type
of action destroys us?
You give Israel
the perfect excuse for continuing.
- You think that without a reason they would stop?
- Yes.
We've got to change the war.
- To make a moral war.
- Even though Israel is immoral?
- Israel never!
- Look out!
Flying martyrs!
Sons of bitches.
Said!
Said.
Said.
Praise Allah.
Praise Allah.
Easy, easy, stay calm.
Stay calm.
I've been stupid.
We've got to find Jamal,
get up.
Let's go.
- Let's go!
- I'll go tomorrow.
- Enough already.
- What are you doing here?
Quiet.
- Leave me and get out of here.
- I don't want to go without you.
- Get up!
- Please, enough already.
- Get up!
- Enough already!
Enough!
- Go!
- Said!
Said!
Said!
Said!
Stop!
Stop!
Enough already!
Does it still hurt?
No.
And now what?
You'll see.
It depends on you.
What are you saying?
The impediments to the operation
have disappeared.
If you want,
you can still go out.
What happened to Said?
There's no problem,
he's passed the test.
What's wrong?
I've got to speak with Said.
- I want to see him.
- It's not necessary.
You should decide if you are going
or staying.
Listen, Said.
You know how much it costs us
and the risks we are running.
Because of you,
everything has been ruined.
Now I can't go with you.
I'm sorry.
It's better that you go.
I was born
in a refugee camp.
I've only been able to leave
the West Bank one time.
I was six years old.
It was to have an operation.
Just that once.
Living here
is like living in a jail.
The crimes of the occupation
are countless.
But the worst of all
is exploiting the weakness
of the people.
And converting them into collaborators.
They're not only crushing
the resistance,
but also the families,
the dignity of our people.
When my father
was executed,
I was ten years old.
He was a good man.
He became weak.
The occupation was to blame
for what happened.
They've got to understand
that if they recruit collaborators
they will pay
the price.
It's not worth living
without dignity.
Above all
If we remember, day after day,
our humiliation,
our weakness,
while the world watches,
cowardice and indifference.
When a people find themselves
alone before the oppressor,
no other remedy remains
but to stop the injustice.
They must understand,
if we don't have security,
they don't either.
Not to use power.
Their power serves no purpose.
I intend to deliver them the message,
but only this form occurs to me
to deliver it.
Worse still,
they've convinced the world
and themselves,
that they're the victims.
Is it possible to be an oppressor
and a victim at the same time?
But if they've already awarded themselves
the role of oppressor and victim,
it leaves no other remedy
than to be a victim
and also a killer.
I don't know what will be your decision,
but I will not be a refugee.
I'm going to pray.
Said!
Said!
What have you decided?
Where is he?
I'm sorry.
Good luck.
Said, listen.
Said!
Said, listen to me.
- Said, listen.
- What do you want?
- Why have you come?
- For you.
Let's go back, back, Suha is right.
This way, we will not win.
We do what we must,
Allah is in charge of the rest.
Allah says: "Pause and reflect".
We kill and they kill us,
nothing changes.
We will die,
but the resistance will continue.
I don't have a choice.
And if you don't change anything?
If nothing changes?
There are other methods
of freedom and resistance.
Maybe for others.
For you also.
Come back with me,
I won't leave you here.
I won't let you die,
I won't allow it.
Talk.
Talk!
Go!
Said, open the door!
Open!
Come on, Said!
Go!