Ajami (2009)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 124 minuten
Alternative title: עג'מי
Country:
Germany / Israel
Directed by: Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani
Stars: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege and Fouad Habash
IMDb score:
7,2 (6.767)
Releasedate: 17 September 2009
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Ajami plot
Ajami is a melting pot of cultures, where Jews, Muslims and Christians regularly clash. 13-year-old Nasri and his brother Omar live in fear as their family is in danger after their uncle simply shot at an important member of another clan. Malek, a naive Palestinian refugee, works illegally in Israel to pay for the operation that could save his mother's life. Rich Palestinian Binj dreams of leaving Ajami and moving in with his Jewish girlfriend. And then there's Dando, an Israeli police inspector whose life was turned upside down when his younger brother disappeared without a trace...
Reviews & comments
Filmkriebel
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- 10012 messages
- 4678 votes
It was once again time for a chunk of world cinema. It was good that they had programmed the acclaimed film Ajami on Sundance TV. A relatively heavy drama with a non-chronological course, which certainly does not make it easy viewing. It is not until late in the film that you can tie all the separate stories together and puzzle everything together chronologically. Not all chapters were equally brilliant, by the way: the third chapter about the Jewish police officer Dando was completely unnecessary. You also hear nothing about the compensation that Omar and his family have to pay to the Berber clan, which means that the film leaves an unfinished impression. The film brings up tensions between the different religious populations in Israel through a crime story, but a film like "L'Insulte" did such a thing much better with more conceived dialogue and a less complicated structure. Ajami in itself is certainly not a bad film with raw realistic acting, but it didn't go straight to my heart.
Translated from Dutch · View original
james_cameron
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- 7060 messages
- 9825 votes
The somewhat forced mosaic structure is not the strongest part of this Israeli crime drama, but fortunately the atmosphere and characters provide enough to hold on to. Ajami is a problem area with a melting pot of cultures, where Jews, Muslims and Christians regularly clash. The script sometimes demands a little too much from the actors and is not convincing on all fronts, but for the most part this is an exciting, poignant and impressively shot film. Co-director Scandar Copti also has an important role as the character Binj and does that not without merit.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
The danger of a mosaic film is that the cohesion and puzzle pieces have to fit together. I lacked cohesion, but individually the fragments provided enough material to be impressed.
There is not a very positive picture of the part of Palestine/Israel there. It looked like the Wild West where survival of the fittest was written into the constitution.
A heavy drama with a lot of violence, not always logical to follow, I thought. The individual stories were stronger than the forced whole.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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