With the busy summer schedule, its been difficult to find time for films. Last night though, I snatched the chance to sit down to "Ajami", a 2009 Israeli film, rented from a local museum's library.
The movie derives its title from the Ajami neighborhood of Tel-Aviv, Israel's largest and most cosmopolitan city. Ajami is a run-down area in the southern reaches of the city that is home primarily to Arab Israelis (Muslim and Christian), and Palestinians, along with a smattering of Jews. A tense environment, to say the least. "Ajami" follows the stories of four characters whose lives are centered upon the neighborhood: Omar, a Muslim restaurant worker trying to find a way to settle a huge debt all while secretly courting the daughter of his Christian boss; Malek, a Palestinian illegally working in the same restaurant as Omar, trying to earn money to pay for his mother's bone marrow transplant; Dando, a Jewish plain-clothes policeman trying to find a younger brother who never returned home from service in the army; and Binj, friend and co-worker to Malek and Omar, who risks ostracism by his Arab friends for dating a Jewish girl, and eventually finds himself in legal trouble after his younger brother kills a Jew in a dispute. Omar's younger brother, Nasri, occasionally lends narration to the film.
It's an absolutely amazing piece of film-work. The stories of each of the above-mentioned characters are riveting in their own way, but eventually they all converge, rather brilliantly, I thought, in the hectic last few moments of the film. The sequence of events are such that the viewer is left a bit confused and cannot see the entire picture, but in the last half-hour all the important plot elements are revealed, producing several "Ahh, so that's it" moments. Some may find this a bit frustrating, it depends on your preferences, but I prefer such presentation, and the air of anticipation in creates. None of the actors in the film are professional or had acted before, so it gives the film a very documentary-like feel. I read, for instance, that the actor playing Dando is actually a real cop on the Tel-Aviv beat. I wouldn't have it any other way. Such casting gives "Ajami" an intense realism that is necessary for the portrayal of a tinder-box like Ajami. The film is also important because it gives one a sense of what life can be like in the seedier underside of Israel's large cities, far from the pristine beaches, glitzy buildings where diamonds are traded, or the packed tourist attractions.
There were one or two plot elements that, even at the end, I still couldn't make sense of, but nothing so important such that I didn't understand the overall story. The narration of Nasri also seemed a bit pointless and even out-of-place, but he still has some good lines. These are minor worries anyway. "Ajami" will take a few minutes to catch your interest, but it will, straight through to the climax, where those four story-lines come crashing together.
Verdict: See it, definitely. Grade: A
If you liked this movie you might also like: Hollywood flicks like "Babel" and "Crash" also have converging story-lines. "Ajami" is better than "Crash" if you ask me, but "Babel" is one of my favorite movies and still has more quality, but "Ajami" is still worth the comparison.
The movie derives its title from the Ajami neighborhood of Tel-Aviv, Israel's largest and most cosmopolitan city. Ajami is a run-down area in the southern reaches of the city that is home primarily to Arab Israelis (Muslim and Christian), and Palestinians, along with a smattering of Jews. A tense environment, to say the least. "Ajami" follows the stories of four characters whose lives are centered upon the neighborhood: Omar, a Muslim restaurant worker trying to find a way to settle a huge debt all while secretly courting the daughter of his Christian boss; Malek, a Palestinian illegally working in the same restaurant as Omar, trying to earn money to pay for his mother's bone marrow transplant; Dando, a Jewish plain-clothes policeman trying to find a younger brother who never returned home from service in the army; and Binj, friend and co-worker to Malek and Omar, who risks ostracism by his Arab friends for dating a Jewish girl, and eventually finds himself in legal trouble after his younger brother kills a Jew in a dispute. Omar's younger brother, Nasri, occasionally lends narration to the film.
It's an absolutely amazing piece of film-work. The stories of each of the above-mentioned characters are riveting in their own way, but eventually they all converge, rather brilliantly, I thought, in the hectic last few moments of the film. The sequence of events are such that the viewer is left a bit confused and cannot see the entire picture, but in the last half-hour all the important plot elements are revealed, producing several "Ahh, so that's it" moments. Some may find this a bit frustrating, it depends on your preferences, but I prefer such presentation, and the air of anticipation in creates. None of the actors in the film are professional or had acted before, so it gives the film a very documentary-like feel. I read, for instance, that the actor playing Dando is actually a real cop on the Tel-Aviv beat. I wouldn't have it any other way. Such casting gives "Ajami" an intense realism that is necessary for the portrayal of a tinder-box like Ajami. The film is also important because it gives one a sense of what life can be like in the seedier underside of Israel's large cities, far from the pristine beaches, glitzy buildings where diamonds are traded, or the packed tourist attractions.
There were one or two plot elements that, even at the end, I still couldn't make sense of, but nothing so important such that I didn't understand the overall story. The narration of Nasri also seemed a bit pointless and even out-of-place, but he still has some good lines. These are minor worries anyway. "Ajami" will take a few minutes to catch your interest, but it will, straight through to the climax, where those four story-lines come crashing together.
Verdict: See it, definitely. Grade: A
If you liked this movie you might also like: Hollywood flicks like "Babel" and "Crash" also have converging story-lines. "Ajami" is better than "Crash" if you ask me, but "Babel" is one of my favorite movies and still has more quality, but "Ajami" is still worth the comparison.
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