7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Thirteen-year-old Nasri and his older brother Oman face constant fear when their family becomes a target of assassination, after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. The young Palestinian refugee Malek works illegally in Israel to finance his mother's life-saving surgery. An affluent Palestinian man dreams of building a life with his Jewish girlfriend. A Jewish cop is obsessed with finding his missing brother.
Starring: Fouad Habash, Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Scandar Copti, Hilal KaboubDrama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Hebrew: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Film scholar David Bordwell coined the term “network narratives” to refer to films where “several protagonists are given more or less the same weight as they participate in intertwining plot lines,” with an attempt to “show a larger pattern underlying their individual trajectories.” (Bordwell frequently mentions the trend in his excellent blog, which can be found here.) The network narrative is nothing new—one of the best examples is Robert Altman’s 1975 country music comedy Nashville—but within the past decade, the form has been increasingly used for Big Issue movies that try to parse socio- political problems through multi-threaded and frequently multi-cultural stories. I’m thinking specifically of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s tri-pronged, world-spanning Babel, Paul Haggis’ racially charged Crash, and Syriana, the geopolitical thriller by Stephen Gaghan. Ajami, the Academy Award-nominated film by co-directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani — the former a Palestinian Arab, the latter an Israeli Jew—is the latest “hypertext” movie to examine hot-button racial issues through the eyes of multiple characters. Unlike Crash, though, and more so than Babel, it’s genuine and gripping, a maelstrom of a film that spirals around a moment of misunderstood violence.
Omar and Nasri
IMDB.com and various promotional materials all state that Ajami was shot on 35mm, but that doesn't appear to be the case. A bit of internet sleuthing, with some help from cinematography.com, reveals that the film was actually shot using Sony's 900R HD video camera. As far as I can tell, the original video material was printed on 35mm and then telecined back into digital form, that is, a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. And that's exactly what Ajami looks like here. Initially, this is somewhat confusing because the image looks very video-ish, but there's also noticeable film grain. I'm confident that the film has been given as a good a treatment as it could get considering the multi- media process, but there are a few quirks—mostly relating to the HD video source footage—that eagle- eyed videophiles will spot quickly. Most notably, the darker scenes are peppered with digital chroma noise, making black levels somewhat hazy/grey and giving the picture a decidedly gritty quality. Overall clarity is also mixed; there are some sharp close-ups—letting us make out small details, like the stubble on Omar's chin—but fine texture is often lost in the grit of the image. Like I said, though, this can all be attributed to the unique way the film was shot and processed. The film's color palette is nicely toned, though, with an amber cast that accentuates the Middle Eastern heat. Ajami most likely looks quite close to its intended appearance, which is why I'm giving it a solid 4/5, but if the noise, black level, and clarity issues were the result of transfer-related troubles and not the quality of the source material, I'd probably hand out a marginally lower score.
Despite the presence of guns, drugs, and cops, Ajami is not an action film and, consequently, doesn't have a whiz-bang-pow action movie soundtrack. Instead, Ajami's Hebrew/Arabic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix is a realistic, fairly low-key affair, with a moderate amount of rear channel output—mostly quiet city ambience, like traffic sounds, distant bird calls, and the bleating of livestock in the streets—and a score that complements, rather than overpowers, the emotions of the film. Most of the activity takes place up front, and there's a perfect balance between dialogue, music, and effects. Sudden violence gives the track a chance to stretch its muscles, as loud gunshots shatter the near silence, and the LFE channel is occasionally activated for bumping club music. The score, comprised of aching vocal ululations and indigenous instrumentation, sounds full and clean, and there are no drop-outs, hisses, hums, or buzzes. Optional English subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
Ajami: The Story of the Actors (1080i, 29:18)
In lieu of a director's commentary or "making of" documentary, we get this excellent behind-the-
scenes look at the process of casting and rehearsing non-professional actors for roles in the film. Here,
we watch acting workshops and improv exercises, and get interviews with various cast and crew
members.
Deleted Scenes (1080i, 23:07)
The first thing that made me suspect that the film wasn't shot on 35mm—well, aside from actually
inspecting the image—was that fact that these ten deleted scenes were clearly shot on video. The
scenes themselves are mostly additional character beats—rightly cut from a film that's a bit too long
as it is—and while there's nothing that offers any new insights, they're certainly worth
watching.
Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 1:43)
Stills Gallery (1080p)
A user-directed gallery containing 24 production stills.
As a "network narrative" film—one that follows multiple story lines—Ajami is more genuine than the phony-baloney Crash and doesn't have to strain as hard as Babel to make a socio-political point. Using non-professional actors and hand-held camerawork, the film has the unflinching realism of a documentary, the heartrending resonance of a tightly crafted drama, and it fully earns its recent Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. This is emotionally compelling, mentally stimulating world cinema. Highly recommended.
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