Review of Ajami (2009) by Aras G — 18 Feb 2010

Could have been better, and definitely not one of the top movies of 2009...

Following the trends of non-linear films/films about impoverished, crime infested neighborhoods world wide, Israel funded a movies about such a neighborhood in Jaffa, which of course had to be and Arab neighborhood, smart move Israel, as usual... :/.

The movie consists of 5 connected chapters that tell 2 stories in a non-linear narration. As much as I'm a sucker for unconventional narration, this one just didn't work, the arrangement of the segments was a little off, the whole script was just missing something, editing was average, but the cinematography was really good, visually the movie follows the other trend of documentary-like shooting a la 'Bourne' series, which just took out from the tone of the film.

The only 'Jewish' chapter in the movie was the weakest and it felt out of place, if they wanted a jewish segment, they could've worked on the guy that was stabbed and not go that far away, and I don't think anybody would ever sympathize with 'Angel' and his dead brother who happens to be an Israeli soldier.

All in all, a disappointment to be nominated for an Oscar, but hey, Hollywood is all jews and they just love to support their 'State', I think 'Mother' deserved that spot much more than 'Ajami'...