Ordinary People

In a scene from Hany Abu-Assad's new film Paradise Now, a young Palestinian stands in front of a video camera taping his martyr's message before being dispatched to Tel Aviv on a suicide mission. Then the sight of one of his handlers munching a sandwich sets him thinking about his mother, and how he has forgotten to give her some last-minute household instructions. "Mom, before I forget," he says, veering from the script, clutching a Kalashnikov rifle, "I saw some good water filters at Al Mokhtar ... buy them there next time."

In a film packed with wrenching...