By ALI DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer Tue Jan 17, 4:38 PM ETNABLUS, West Bank - The Palestinian film "Paradise Now," which explores the lives of a pair of suicide bombers and just won the Golden Globe for best foreign film, got two thumbs down Tuesday in this tough West Bank city where it was filmed.
Although the film — which snared the Golden Globe in Los Angeles on Monday — has never been screened in Nablus, residents here said the clips they saw on satellite television portrayed the bombers as godless and less than heroic.
"This movie doesn't help the Palestinian cause," said an armed Palestinian militant who would not give his name because he's on the run. "People who go to carry out bombings do not hesitate so much."
The film tells the story of two Nablus car mechanics who are sent to carry out a double suicide-bombing in Tel Aviv. They shave their beards to blend into Israeli crowds more easily, pray and prepare farewell videos.
The movie has received praise around the world and has been played in about 60 countries, according to director Hany Abu-Assad.
Speaking during the glitzy award ceremony Monday, Abu-Assad said he believed the film's success stemmed from the world's recognition that the Palestinians deserve "liberty and equality unconditionally."
Most of the movie was shot in Nablus, a militant stronghold and the home base of many of the suicide bombers sent to attack Israeli targets in recent years. The conflict served as a constant backdrop for the film, which showed houses demolished in Israeli army operations, the sound of airstrikes against Palestinian militants and large crowds waiting at army roadblocks.
The violence even interrupted the filming — once when
Israel carried out a missile strike at militants near the camera crew and once when militants briefly kidnapped a cameraman in an effort to stop the filming of a movie they believed would portray them in a negative light.
The filming was then moved to an Israeli Arab city to avoid further interruptions.
On Tuesday, a group of Palestinians at the Sport Shoes store in the center of the city argued over a breakfast of humus and falafel about whether or not the film should be shown in Nablus, where movie theaters were closed more than five years ago for providing frivolous entertainment in light of the bloodshed with Israel.
"This movie wasn't interesting enough for us," said Ghassan Jbeileh, a shoe salesman. "We have enough problems with people who can't put food on the table."
A man with a pistol on his belt who would not give his name said the movie must be good for Israel or it would never have succeeded in Hollywood.
But Peter Samchan, a trader on the Palestinian stock exchange who saw clips of the film on the Al Jazeera satellite station and read about it in the newspaper, said the Palestinians have to foster openness and should not have interrupted the filming or prejudged the movie.
"We need to let them do their work and then decide if it's good or not," he said. "How can we be called a democratic people if we don't let someone film a movie in Nablus."
Some hoped the film's international recognition would help relieve the Islamic hard-liners' influence on society and allow the screening of such a movie here.
"I have a dream that one day we will see it in a cinema in Nablus," said Muthana al-Qadi, who helped coordinate the filming here.
The film has met with mixed success in Israel, having been screened only a few times at a handful of cinemas. Some Israeli viewers said it helped them understand Palestinian suicide bombers, although not legitimize them.
During the Golden Globe ceremony, the film's place of origin was announced as "Palestine." It's also in the running for the foreign film Academy Award as the entry for "Palestine." Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that it was incorrect to refer to a Palestine before a Palestinian state has been established.
"There is a Palestinian Authority, but not a Palestinian state," Regev said.
Amir Harel, the film's Israeli producer, said the mention of "Palestine" in the ceremony did not bother him and he supported its presentation of a different, more human face for Palestinian suicide bombers.
"First and foremost the movie is a good work of art," Harel said. "But if the movie raises awareness or presents a different side of reality, this is an important thing."
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
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