Paradise (Fueredis) is one of the few remaining Palestinian villages on the Israeli coast, a miraculous survivor of the violence of 1948. Why the village received its name is plain to all of its inhabitants (the shape and palate of the land are ancient superlatives). But how Paradise came to be preserved through wartime is a secret guarded by elder generations.
The audience is introduced to Paradise at sunset, the backdrop cast in silhouette. The shot is stunning, but significantly vague, the effect of the image dependent on the obscurity of its details. Thus, the underlying question of the film is posed, one with which the filmmaker wrestles for the remainder of the documentary: Beauty or Truth- which will it be?
The documentary is narrated and related from the perspective of native director, Ebtisam Mra’ana, who has spent all of her life in the village. Twenty-something (and remarkably progressive considering the weight of tradition in Paradise), Mra’ana is coming of age and anxious to forge an identity. For Mra’ana, this requires an entire and unambiguous understanding of her home.
She begins to probe friends and neighbors about the history of her village, but her sincerity and persistence are met with silence and admonishment. Shop keepers and pedestrians insist that they know nothing of the past. The Vice-Chairman of the Regional Council refuses her an appointment. Even Mra’ana’s father warns her of the danger of her curiosity. “Don’t cross the river first,” he says. “Let the others cross the river before you.”
Locals say that Mra’ana’s behavior recalls that of Suaad, a woman cast from Paradise when Mra’ana was a girl. Given the regularity of these comparisons, Mra’ana becomes fascinated with a new and greater mystery: Who was Suaad and what did she know about the history of Paradise that threatened its existence? The filmmaker’s commitment to the discovery of the truth grows stronger. In her mind, the history of Suaad and the history
of Paradise are inexorably linked.
Despite great effort, Mra’ana learns little in Paradise about Suaad’s true identity. Her fellow villagers are tightlipped and unwilling or unreliable gossips. What is more, Mra’ana’s regular inquiries alienate a people unaccustomed to questions. The filmmaker is made to feel like an outsider, which strengthens both Mra’ana’s subjective association with Suaad, and her suspicion that, with knowledge, the beauty of Paradise is somehow compromised.
A breakthrough occurs when Mra’ana meets Suaad’s sister, a woman still residing in the area. It is revealed that Suaad is, at present, living in London, where she has married and given birth to a boy. Suaad is known now as Dr. George, having completed a PhD in International Law. Excited by the nature of her findings, Mra’ana secures plane reservations and prepares to visit the United Kingdom.
Days later, Suuad greets Mra’ana outside of her London flat. She appears tired, but determined. There is much to be discussed and it is not long before Mra’ana engages Suaad about her trouble in Paradise.
Years ago, Suaad explains, Paradise valued its Palestinian identity. In 1948, that value was abandoned when the land on which the village sits was surrendered to Israel.
What most upset Suaad was the passivity of the inhabitants of Paradise. They did not fight or protest the annex of the territory because they feared conflict. The people of Paradise had resolved to accept whatever terms the enemy presented. They had consented to become Israelis, to work for Israelis, and to abide by Israeli law. Then, by consensus, they masked their shame with secrecy and lies.
During the 1970’s, Suaad, approximately the same as age as Mra’ana, learned the actual history of Paradise, and, unwilling to forfeit what so many others had, she became intimately involved with the Palestinian Liberation Movement. She was consequently condemned as a “free thinker” and banished from the only home that she had ever known.
Suaad’s account fortifies Mra’ana’s disappointment in Paradise. In fact, Mra’ana expresses her desire to leave the village, but it is at this point that the narrative takes its most interesting turn. The camera lingers on a heartbroken Suaad, practically begging the filmmaker to stay in Paradise. The spectator then realizes that all of Suaad’s revolutionary activity was born, not from anger, but from love for the people of her village and from concern for a history that could enrich their lives. However, most amazing is Suaad’s regret \xe2\x80″ her wish that she never acted as she had. These days, offered the choice between beauty and truth, Dr. George would choose beauty. Mra’ana is left at the conclusion of the film with that same choice. Knowing now what she does, having spent time with Suaad, she must resolve her own identity.
Paradise Lost is a considerably honest, considerably real film that explores both the micro- and macrocosmic dimensions of human history. The spectator is occasionally frustrated by the filmmaker’s voice-over, only because the material requires silence for contemplation. In any case, Mra’ana has succeeded in crafting a psychologically complex and politically important work that earns the respect of its audience.
