vernon film society
Bringing the best in world and Canadian film to film lovers of Vernon and the North Okanagan
THE BAND’S VISIT
Director: Eran KolirinCast: Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Natour, Imad Jabarin
Run Time: 89 minutes
Country: Israel/France
Language: English, Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles
Rating: Not yet rated
"… a warm and delightful take on cross-cultural relations that proves that sometimes a light touch is just what's needed to address serious topics." – Jay Weissberg, Variety
Reviews: www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bands_visit/
THE BAND‘S VISIT, which screened to popular acclaim at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival®, is an inspiring story of cross-cultural rapprochement and reconciliation set in the most unlikely of locales.
In director Eran Kolirin‘s debut feature, a small, uniformed Egyptian police band becomes lost in rural Israel on their way to performing at a concert. They unexpectedly encounter not only tensions and friendships with the townspeople who take them in for the night, but valuable lessons as well. Invited to perform at the opening of an Israeli cultural centre, the immaculately pressed Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band arrive at the airport only to find that their hosts are nowhere in sight. Their Plan B is to take a bus, but they accidentally head in the wrong direction, led by conductor Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai). Stranded in a tiny Israeli desert town, they reluctantly decide to stay the night until the next bus arrives in the morning.
Tewfiq and the fetching Haled (Saleh Bakri) stay with the self-assured and witty café proprietress, Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), whose casual sensuality can‘t help but challenge the men‘s ideas about womanhood. Through the connections they forge, the band members and the villagers find their cultural assumptions shaken – with one especially memorable scene taking place in a roller disco. THE BAND‘S VISIT is good-natured and warm while avoiding sentimentality. Kolirin elicits wonderful performances from his ensemble cast in this meticulously observed and understated comedy.
Though set not long ago, the film‘s tone is infused with a wistful nostalgia for the director‘s childhood, when Egyptian movies and the Israel Broadcasting Authority‘s orchestra performances were shown side by side on Israeli national television. While refusing to glorify the past, Kolirin clearly yearns for a less mediated time when simpler pleasures – a shared meal, a good tune, an open door – had the potential to bring people together.
“A little picture in the best sense of the term, it's filled with small but telling moments and richly drawn characterizations.” - Lewis Beale, Film Journal International
