Ajami

This is a long and confusing movie. It uses "separate" but interwoven stories so you get to see related aspects of all the characters. The primary story is about attempts to raise money to settle a murder that occurred between warring clans. The "tribal" or informal court scene was the most interesting part of the movie-- where the amount of blood money is agreed on. The rest is much too long and repetitive. It needs to be heavily edited. Yes it shows gritty street scenes in Jaffa but they all look alike. The parallel plot stories just make it hard to connect and follow--get rid of that gimmick and do a normal story/documentary. Another problem is the non professional actors get on your nerves after awhile from over exposure. There is only so much bad acting you can take. Yes they are surprisingly good except Omar and the bad Israeli cop--however in this type film less is more. That goes for the dismal cluttered apartments and street/work scenes as well--yes I am positive that it is wonderfully real but 2 hours is painful. 20% of Israel's population is ethnic arab--this is a look at them but too much of a chore to watch. Gomorrah was better (Italian mob movie similar plot construction to this). Also Son of a Lion about Pushtun Afghanistan shows how to make these amateur actor semi documentary's work better. Don't RECOMMEND needs editing the parallel plot mechanism just adds confusion. Edit it down to 1 "chapter" (it has 5). It gets 3 stars for the site and topic.

In trying to keep this review right to the point, I must say that there are few movies that keep one thinking and wondering. Just who *are* these actors in this film? Is the story line about life in such an area similar (or, as tragic and seemingly hopeless)? How in the world did the film get written so tightly? The acting was impeccable. For the life of me, I cannot understand one word of the languages used in the film, so I had to rely on tone, emotion, body language and projection. I felt that everyone in front of the camera has lived through pain and heartache in their own lives, the way they could embrace the emotions that they carried so well, both the young and older performers. Ajami is an emotional roller coaster for certain; from the very first scene, it's bound to startle. It's a deeply charged film that speaks so much about life and death, living amongst all the suffering, all with so much prayer and religious belief intertwined (no, this film does not pound the viewer with religion) ... which helps confound the viewer by asking where the heart of the problem is in that region, in the first place? A great piece of filmmaking compels the viewer to dig deeper and find back stories and trivia. Ajami is such a film because I put my trust in the protagonists to believe their characters. They did not lose my belief from some unbelievable twist in plot or outcome. If you can handle the emotionally tragic story, please seek out Ajami. If you're not sure, strengthen your inner soul some day to watch this film. Absolutely top notch, even with the difficult plot jumping that sometimes happens. If you feel puzzled, the film will not let you down ~ you'll learn all you need in time to drop your jaw clear to the couch by the time the credits roll. Ajami is Amazing.

This is going to be a short review... Just finished watching it. Quiet interesting story well told with fine performances and direction.Also the script is fine and all the TWISTS actually work. This is not actually Just Israeli or Palestinian portrayal, it portrays a lot of crime, drugs and stuff around us every where from south to north or east to west. Current rating of Ajami is 6.9 with mere 475 votes. but I bet its going to increase. I liked the movie, and it is fine movie worth watching. My Rating 7.5-8.0.

Old Jaffa, bordered by the Mediterranean on the east and surrounded on the other three sides by Tel Aviv, is still predominantly Arab and Ajami is one of its neighborhoods. This film, which tells its several stories episodically and without drawing any explicit lessons, conveys the hazards attending life in a place where Israeli Arabs and Palestinian Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, Bedouin and other criminal gangs, rub up against one another under the sometimes watchful eye of Israeli police. Without summarizing the story to the point of revealing the plot, it is about violence and the threat of violence, about familial ties and codes, about vengeance and deals to appease the avengers. It is very well acted, and the subtitles make clear what is being said either in Arabic or Hebrew and occasionally both at once. The film makers have not had much experience. That makes it all the more remarkable that they have succeeded so admirably in telling overlapping stories from different vantage points and, sometimes, out of sequence without confusing the viewer. It is harsh but powerful film and well worth the two hours required to watch it.

First of all, I have to say that I usually hate Israeli movies, they're either awfully political, terribly artsy or both altogether. I came to an early screening of this movie during a workshop in which I was participating, not knowing what to expect but not expecting much, and man... This movie blew me away. It's just great, really. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect, but it's still great. "City of God meets Pulp Fiction", some would say, and I tend to agree with them! Besides, all the characters in the movie are played by absolute non-actors, and they make an amazing job doing it. Anyway, all I'm saying is - go see it!

As most folk will know,the relationship between Isreali Jews & Arabs have always been,for the lack of a better word or phrase,tempestuous. This has formed the basis for some quality films on the subject. Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani are both film makers from the same side of the fence from Isreal (one Jewish,the other Arab),who are the voice of reason,in the middle of all of the turmoil. They have both collaborated on the ever so fine film,'Ajami',set mostly in the village of Jaffa (the scene of another fine film of the same name). Ajami tells five individual stories of trying to keep one's head while others are losing there own (and most time failing),with overlapping narratives. We see both the Arab,as well as the Jewish perspective of all of the madness brought on by mistrust,hatred,prejudice,etc. The cast includes:Fouad Habash,Nisrine Rihan,Elias Saba & Abu George Shibli (representing the Arab contingent),as well as:Eran Naim,Sigil Harel,Tamar Yerushalmi & Moshe Yerushalmi (representing the Isreali contingent). Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani co-write,direct & edit this,at times difficult to watch,but easy to admire film that opts for a documentary look (courtesy of director of photography,Boaz Yaacov),and featuring not just an original music score (by Rabih Boukhari),but some inspired use of both traditional,as well as contemporary Arab & Isreali folk & popular music (by musical consultant,Watan El Kassem). This is edgy,intense film making that makes for an enlightening evening at the cinema. Spoken in Arabic & Hebrew with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains pervasive strong language,violence (some of it rather bloody,but nothing too graphic),and suicidal amounts of drug abuse.

From all the movies we submitted to the Academy Awards during the years, Ajami stands victorious. A great story about small hopes and dreams in an average-Israeli-reality in which no one is sacred. It is story telling at it's best, and i'm not saying this strictly because i'm from Israel. it's simply a great movie. a conflict is as good as the key actors within and in this case, it shows the variety of personalities that the Israel-Palestine conflict has. I'm curious to know how the movie is accepted around the world. There are a lot of small gestures that are hidden in the language itself and can't be translated. Plus, you have to live here in order to fully understand the meaning and complexity's of the actions portrayed in the movie. I hope and pray that Ajami will be this years winner just because it deserves it more than anything else.

This won't be a popular review. That doesn't matter, a few people will see the point. There are many fine Israeli movies, but this isn't one of them. Yes, the movie has lots of qualities. As far as the movie experience goes, I liked it a lot. But at the end of a movie that portrays conflict, it always pays to step back and ask what ideology may subtly have been embedded. So when the movie ends, what remains? Every single time a law is broken in this film, it is broken by an Arab. In this movie, Jews never break the law. It's easy not to notice because the stories are so dense and immersive. Many people will walk out with thoughts such as "yeah, it's a complex situation". Subtly imprinted underneath that thought will be an other thought: that Arabs (who break every law all the time) basically make life hard for the Jews (who never break the law). Don't tell me about the mixed ethnicity of the directors, that's irrelevant. If you want something a bit deeper, something that looks at why things are the way they are, go read the Eisner-award-winning "Palestine" graphic novel by Joe Sacco, or "Jerusalem" by Guy Delisle.

'Ajami', the Israeli entry for the Oscar this year is very different from the successful films that represented the country in the previous years. Directed by two newcomers on the cinema scene Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, it is acted most of the time in Arabic and deals with a world that many Israelis know only from the news - the crime and poverty dominated Arab districts at the periphery of the Israeli big cities.The name of the film is of one of these areas, in Jaffo, south and close to the shining lights of the Tel Aviv metropolis. Playing a little on the violent suburbs genre that was successful in other off-mainstream cinema schools 'Ajami' a complex crime story, involving a few characters who seem to be doomed for tragedy. An Israeli Muslim Arab finds himself in the middle of a families feud that turns into violence, murder and revenge. An illegal Palestinian worker badly needs money to help his ailing mother. Both will need the protection of a rich restaurant owner who is also a kind of local authority beyond and above police and law enforcement. Both will become involved in a drug deal which ends in shootings. Police seems unable to control the area and fits badly in the landscape, its appearance seems just to generate more conflict and violence than law and order. One of the policemen lives his own tragedy, his brother soldier brother disappears and is found later in Palestinian territory, probably kidnapped and murdered by terrorists. All these disparate threads come nicely together towards the end and the intelligent script writing is the best part of the film. It is not a pleasant film to see, and not designed to be so. The story is told from the perspective of the different characters, it requires attention to follow, and even if it has logic and all pieces of the puzzle eventually fit well, the different angles and the jumps in time make the film difficult or at least demanding to see. Actors are directed towards a very natural way of acting, improvisation and living the character seems to be the rule rather than careful rehearsal of the role - this gives a feeling of natural and chaos of life, but it asks the viewer rather than the director to fill in with meaning what happens on screen. Last, the colors and landscape is in many cases desolate and soulless, dirty and brutal, as the world the characters live in. This realistic piece of cinema succeeds to be both direct in its mode of expression and sophisticated in its story-telling. The average Israeli viewer is impacted by the image of a part of the country and social life that is close and far at the same time. The final off-screen words belong to one of the characters, a child of the neighborhood who draws the comics representation of the story all along the film, to become part of the drama in the final. 'Do not close your eyes' - this message may be part of the whole society, as Ajami is part of the same world we all live in.

I attended the The North American Premiere of "Ajami" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Unlike many films from Israel which traditionally present an "Israeli" or "Palestinian" point of view, "Ajami" portrays a side of life that few ever see -- Arabs living in Israel. In fact, not only is this film not primarily about Arabs and Israelis, it actually deals with conflict within the Israeli Arab world between Muslims and Christians. Written, directed, and edited by Scandar Copti, "Ajami" is a two-hour "Crash"-like drama which looks at several violent incidents, some linked more than others, and then focuses on one in particular from different perspectives told through the use of flashbacks. The movie takes awhile to get going but once the viewer catches on to the device it becomes more compelling. The young people featured in the recurring storyline are quite endearing and easy to empathize with. This could be a coming-of-age story set anywhere in the world.