moviereview - The Band's Visit

THE BAND'S VISIT

	An Egyptian brass band arrives in a remote corner of Israel for a cultrual exchange. Problem is, it's the wrong corner, and the exchange is not what anyone expects.	score 4	moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable)
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Cast
Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Natour

Director
Eran Kolirin

Screenwriter
Eran Kolirin

Country
israel / France (subtitles)

Rating / Running Time
M / 82 minutes

Australian Release
July 2008

Official Site

When an Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to promote cross-border and cross-cultural harmony, they hardly expected the keys of the city. However they didn’t expect the kind of indifference served up by the small community of Beit Hatikva. Not that the townsfolk are especially intolerant of visiting Arabs, musical or otherwise. The band has simply made its way to the wrong village - as a local café owner drolly points out: “No culture. Not Israeli culture, not Arab - no culture at all!”

Eran Kolirin’s thoroughly charming comedy-drama picked up a Heart Throb Jury Prize at Cannes last year and has since won a slew of awards wherever it played. With a low-key, often whimsical tone, it works a line of tolerance that extends far beyond the parameters of its slight narrative. The Alexandra Ceremonial Police Orchestra, led by their most proper conductor, beds down until the next bus service can get them to their rightful destination. They and the Israeli natives engage in a quietly eventful night of confession as both parties make an impact on the lives of others.

A heightened reality is stripped to its components as Kolirin, well served by a splendid cast, sets up a beguiling exchange within and without the band. The conductor is troubled by the very forward attitude of a band member, the café owner likewise troubled by the stiff composure of the conductor. Layer on the historical and cultural complication of Arab-Jewish / Egyptian-Israeli interaction and the comedy is as wry as the drama is spry.

The clincher is Kolirin’s understated approach. This is a sincere, bittersweet film where the payoff is neither obvious nor narrative. It’s found in the spaces between moments, where wary people - ‘enemies’ - come together and reveal the same hopes, dreams and aspirations.

// COLIN FRASER