Simply A Masterpiece

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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.

An interesting film, no doubt heavily influenced by "Traffic" and "Babel" "Ajani" takes 5 or 6 stories and quite brilliantly interweaves them together. The film mostly focuses on the Arab/Israeli conflict, and it's effect on the regular townspeople. It would help if you knew a bit of history (I didn't) to have a better political connection to the stories, but that's OK, the stories make up for it with it's human element. It's a bit confusing to follow for the first bit while you're trying to figure out what the filmmakers are doing, but once you get into it, you get hooked. Contains a twist ending that's both shocking and in an instant, puts more depth into the story. A must see if you're into these types of films. Great work here.

I don't know that I've ever seen a movie in which I felt so quickly involved with the characters and their lives. Almost from the first moment, I was drawn in grippingly. This was what made the movie so difficult to watch sometimes; I was so involved with the characters that the fear that something bad was destined to happen to them was almost unbearable. A superb, thoroughly natural film. I was drawn in more to the lives of the residents of the Ajami neighborhood than I was to those of the Jewish Israeli characters. I don't know why that is, frankly. Perhaps it was the acting, perhaps it was because their lives were less "on the edge", or perhaps because of what was written for them.

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.