In this surprising comedy, a blue costumed Egyptian Police orchestra gets misrouted in Israel on the way to play at the opening of an Arab cultural center in Petah Tikvah. They land in a tiny desert town, where Dina, an Israeli cafe owner, (played by a strikingly smoky voiced Ronet Elkabetz), disburses the eight musicians overnight among her bored regulars until tomorrow's bus comes. Of course, the conductor, Sasson Gabai, stays with her.
Not much of a plot really, but the intelligence and composition of the film makes what I've seen from Hollywood lately seem like kindergarten. Israeli Dina disemboweling a watermelon for her two Egyptian guests, a morose Egyptian-Israeli after dinner men's chorus of "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, romance at the Israeli roller-skate discotheque, two men talking by a sleeping child in the bedroom of a failing marriage -- each scene saved from treacle by the film maker's wit and pacing.
As stereotypes and the enmity of decades fall by the wayside, Egyptians and Israelis alike endure difficulties of communication, autonomy, leadership, relationship, and isolation. No moment is rushed. No character trivialized. No irony ignored. No soundtrack tells us what to feel.
Music and sounds in this film are source only. The band's music, arising as the credits roll, is glorious - the key, in fact, to something each of us, or them, so desperately needs: joy! The film is so well crafted my enjoyment of it was effortless. It seems an enormous amount of thought, care, and love went into "The Band's Visit". And this is precisely the message, told with enough humor to keep it fresh. Ordinary individuals encountering each other with honesty, respect, and the gifts of art, music and laughter -- how else to breach the gulf between these two, or any two, cultures.
Not much of a plot really, but the intelligence and composition of the film makes what I've seen from Hollywood lately seem like kindergarten. Israeli Dina disemboweling a watermelon for her two Egyptian guests, a morose Egyptian-Israeli after dinner men's chorus of "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, romance at the Israeli roller-skate discotheque, two men talking by a sleeping child in the bedroom of a failing marriage -- each scene saved from treacle by the film maker's wit and pacing.
As stereotypes and the enmity of decades fall by the wayside, Egyptians and Israelis alike endure difficulties of communication, autonomy, leadership, relationship, and isolation. No moment is rushed. No character trivialized. No irony ignored. No soundtrack tells us what to feel.
Music and sounds in this film are source only. The band's music, arising as the credits roll, is glorious - the key, in fact, to something each of us, or them, so desperately needs: joy! The film is so well crafted my enjoyment of it was effortless. It seems an enormous amount of thought, care, and love went into "The Band's Visit". And this is precisely the message, told with enough humor to keep it fresh. Ordinary individuals encountering each other with honesty, respect, and the gifts of art, music and laughter -- how else to breach the gulf between these two, or any two, cultures.