It's rare for me to not finish a movie once I've started it. Even if it takes me a couple of days, I will usually see a movie through. Not this time.
Ajami is a neighborhood inside the city of Jaffa in the West Bank. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the film.
Half in Arabic, half in Hebrew and all depressing, this is five stories that end up being connected. Kind of like Babel for the West Bank. I only made it to the start of the third one before I gave up completely.
Part one is about a Palestinian family whose uncle shot a member of a different tribe. They seek redress in the form of blood money, forcing the oldest son, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), to start boosting parts from cars and consider drug running in order to pay it off. In part two, you meet Malek (Ibrahim Frege) who is also looking for a financial boost in order to get his mom a very expensive but necessary surgery. The two hear from their friends that their buddy Binj (Scandar Copti) has been murdered. Malek knew Binj to be in possession of a large quantity of "crystal" so he and Omar decide to sell it to some Israelis. Part three follows one of the Israelis, a cop named Dando (Eram Naim) whose brother has gone missing after deserting from the Army. That's when I shut it off so I have no idea what happens after that.
It felt almost like a documentary following a bunch of people around as they make bad choices. I don't know if that was on purpose or just a by-product of the subject. It is bleak and unrelieved by any levity whatsoever. I can't stress enough how depressing this is to watch. Do yourself a favor and go play with puppies instead of watching this.
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