When the Ceremonial Police Band of Alexandria, Egypt, journeys to a gig in Israel, they can hardly anticipate getting stuck in a rut. But upon arrival at the Israeli airport, their hosts and transportation fail to show. So begins first-time director Eran Kolirin's fish-out-of-water comedy The Band's Visit (aka Bikur Hatizmoret, 2007). Trapped in a middle-of-nowhere desert town, the group members try to figure out what to do and where to go. In desperation, two of the musicians -- conductor
Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai) and playboy Haled (Saleh Bakri) -- accept an invitation from sexy café owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) to bunk at her residence, and seemingly within no time, the unlikeliest of interracial (Israeli-Palestinian) romances begin to blossom -- not only between Tawfiq and Dina, but between Haled and local wallflower Papi (Shlomi Avraham), whose night together at a roller disco turns into a veritable comedy of errors. Meanwhile, the remainder of the bandmembers room with local resident Itzik's (Rubi Moscovich) family, which produces overwhelming conflict and innumerable tensions. As the days roll on, the co-mingling of Egyptian bandmembers and Israeli residents imparts each individual with insights into his cultural identity and that of the others. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Like no fish-out-of-water film in recent memory, it leaves you with the hope that these fish will find their way back to water, and maybe learn to share that puddle before the desert dries it up entirely.
Filmmaker Kolirin shows Israelis what they've been missing, and the rest of us what the Middle East could be, in the gentle, human-scale antics of the confused Egyptian band.
Not so much a story about Jews and Arabs finding a way to get along as it is a nonpolitical story about people discovering the humanity in others, in all their scared, awkward beauty.
Some of the humorous and touching explorations between the band and their hosts are predictable, but a sweet portrait of humanism amidst language and cultural confusion.
... the sometimes awkward, sometimes easy interactions of former national enemies who don't speak the same language but manage to find common ground nonetheless.
One of the film's prime strengths is its wordless willingness to let the principal characters express themselves through music and mime to overcome cultural barriers. [DVD]
A trip to Israeli nowheresville by a minor Egyptian civic band is an occasion for a interesting little filmic investigation into what forces make us all tick. Everyone expects trouble ... and are pleasantly disappointed. Slowly budding revelation sparkles like light on a pond across the faces of this cast of
unknowns.
A touching and considered slice of life that's kind of like those small-town-in-the-Midwest movies where everyone's in pain, except it happens in the Israeli desert, and the new guys in town are a police band from Egypt. A lean film, but one that still takes its time, and one that was well lauded on the festival
circuit. Definitely worth a look - reminded me of Wim Wenders for no obvious reason.
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