It hits you in the face, Scandar Kopti's and Yaron Sheni's movie "Ajami"' bluntly. It's overpowering.
And yes, this is where i live. It's about "my" neighbourhood.
Of course this is not going to be an objective film review. I know most , no, almost all of the actors, at least by face and some are very good friends. The cast has been trained, but they are not professional actors, just my neighbours, more or less playing themselves, playing situations they know, reacting naturally as they would have done were the story real. It could have been real.
However, before continuing, honesty demands i admitting being ever so slightly being involved in a very very early production stage of Ajami.
The film opens with a murder scene, a case of mistaken identity, shot in HaDudaim Street. The scene sent me back to some 7 years ago, Saturday afternoon. Enjoying a glass of wine on my balcony overlooking that street. The street is packed with children, playing outside, enjoying themselves. A motorcycle drives by, on it someone wearing a dark helmet. A few shots ring out, loud, then screams and crying, a young guy lays badly wounded on the street. It all went so fast it took me a few seconds to understand what i had just witnessed. The opening scene takes place at almost the same spot. Only on the other side of the street. In this case the guy survived. They say the murderer was someone from Ramle or Lod, and he didn't know the intended victim well enough and thus mistook him for someone else. Just like in the movie. The similarity is chilling and it doesn't stop with this scene either.
The movie is made out of a few story lines which initially seem not entirely connected, but over time they do, as in real life, as in Ajami.
Many in the audience were from Ajami, so some scenes were funny to us in a way they may not be to others.
I highly recommend, run to your nearest movie theatre.
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