Ajami is a film that refuses to take sides or pass judgement of any kind. Set in Jaffna, Israel, the movie documents the difficulty of day-to-day life in a society that turns its back on the concept of acceptance. Told through the lens of numerous characters and in a non-chronological sequence, it is one of those rare movies that improves through subsequent viewings, allowing the audience to better understand the relationships and the storyline the second time around. Shot with handheld cameras and a non-professional cast, Ajami almost has the feel of a documentary, making the sudden bursts of violence all the more jarring. Sadly, and this is most certainly one of the points of the movie, one has to wonder if Muslims, Jews, and Christians will ever be able to peacefully co-exist in this region of the world.

Ajami is a collaboration of Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani to tell a very complex tale, through five chapters, of an Arab-Israeli family with incredibly bad luck dealing with a protection racket, drug dealers, and the Israeli police. The film presents a realistic and compelling view of the underside of Jaffa, but the non-linear progression of the plot is more tedious than revealing, and in the end the film goes nowhere but to depress.

Chilling, realistic and terrifically promising rare crime thriller showing the rippling effect of middle eastern conflict from both Jewish n Arabic perspective. The 2 directors of this Oscar nominated movie, one being a Palestinian and other a Israeli Jewish has bravely constructed a convoluted nonlinear plot finishing to a spectacular climax.

Loved that this was a film about Israel Palestine, but was nothing about the political situation. All 3 religions living, working and loving together........showing the very strong family connections and obligations that there are in that part of the world. That is at least something that the West could try to learn from

What a powerful film!!! Impressive collaborative effort from a Palestinian and Israeli weaving the fabric of a seemingly complex story made fairly simple by showing the connective fibers of human decision and circumstances across ethnic, religious and physical boundaries. Even going back and forth in time like a Tarantino film it was still easy to follow, as the past leading to the fateful end unfolded in gripping detail. This film really has the power to open a heart-wrenching window into the everyday struggles of the people in the part of the world that we often hear about in sound bytes on the news. Great storytelling!!!

Harrowing but excellent. The ending leaves you reeling. Real performances, and gives you insights into what it's like in this Muslim/Christian/Jewish neighbourhood of Israel.

five stories about life and crime in tel aviv- chapter one was a bit of a snooze, chapter two was followed by more killing. chapter three yet more fighting and crying. kinda tuned out after chapter three and hoped for the end to come quicker. not that the movie sucked; it just failed to engage me, dunno why.

A little long, complicated and somewhat confusing story with some dull moments but it had some fairly realistic, natural, though lacklustre acting at times in a documentary like visual style. The film's characters and plots are able to sustain enough interest with it's multiple storylines that thread together in a web of several perspectives; which in the end comes together well.

This movie blew me away. It's just great, really. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect, but it's still great.

A fantastically well written, well acted, well directed and well shot film. You barely notice its 2 hr length, as every minute is rich in drama and character. It's not an epic film by any stretch, but it's a significant one - bringing forth an engaging, touching, and at times poetic, story of a part of the World where life has complexities we understand little of. It may not quite match fellow notable Foreign Language Oscar nominees, City Of God, A Separation, or A Prophet; but it comes very close and has much in common with all three.

Slow beginning but it was ok over all.

I loved this movie. The director does an awesome job of storytelling while only giving you bits of information as you go, letting the reader ponder what is going on and why. At the end of the film, the viewer will be left with the belief that each action carries with it another reaction, and that action another action. Highly recommended.

The story was told well, and the young actors were great. It did take awhile for everything to come together and make since which was the bad part, but I did like the flashbacks and scenes that basically filled in the blank. It was just slow at getting to it. I do wish the ending could've been resolved but that could just be me wondering what happened to everyone since it ended so abruptly. Overall, I think it's worth watching if you have 2 hours to spare and want to watch something different than what Hollywood puts out.

Despair, despair, despair. For the believable, relatable characters, the region, and the sad world we live in.

Out of all the films nominated at 82nd Academy Awards, Ajami is probably my favorite. A story of a torn-nation, forbidden love, family and crime. It's a masterpiece!

A good take on life in Israel from a largely Arab point of view. It's a thriller, with a plot that draws together the story lines of the main characters through a series of narratives. The time lines overlap, to bring all the tales together at the final denouement. It's also short on explanatory detail, so as a whole it's tricky to follow: but well worth persevering as it tells a good tale of life in the more difficult strata of Israeli society today. Tragedy, needless violence, desperation in the face of poverty. These characters do bad stuff in response to bad situations.

Good depiction of the toil and harsh realities of life for families in Israel, although there is a lot to keep up with here as there are plenty of subplots to follow.

You have to applaud the fact that all the performances in the movie are delivered by non-professionals, although I had an especially difficult time following this movie at times. The linguistic difference between Hebrew and Arabic is important for distinguishing who is talking or where the scene is taking place, for example, and I have a woeful ear for the two. The story is very moving, though, even while the non-linear, multi-arc crossroads of the characters is feeling more and more tiresome in this genre at this point, years removed from "Crash". Why can't cultural crime dramas be told in a logical structure anymore? Not every movie has to be "City of God". However, "Ajami" is a wonderful cultural film and one scene, in particular, that involved a bedouin tribunal will be on my mind for some time. This film excels at humanizing a part of the world that the rest of us fear and misunderstand, while also pointing out how cemented some aspects of its violent undercurrent are in their society.

A rough film to struggle through but the performances are so natural and the setting so vivid it's hard to not to be moved by the socio and cultural politics presented in this foreign language finalist from Israel.

A solid film. In the usual out-of-time-sequence manner with a collection of characters and plots intertwined, this is a compelling story about disparity in every aspect, economic, cultural, religious, and again economic. For someone who cares about the Israeli/Arab conflict, this provides at the micro level an excellent view, but not at all an optimistic one.