The Band's Visit is the heartwarming and poignant winner of the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard prize - a mesmerizing and witty story of strangers in a strange land. A fading Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music and life. Set against a breathtaking desert landscape, this cross-cultural comedy proves that getting lost is sometimes the best way to find yourself.
Directed by
Eran Kolirin
Written by
Eran Kolirin
Starring
Sasson Gabai (Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya); Ronit Elkabetz (Dina); Saleh Bakri (Haled); Khalifa Natour (Simon). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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Readers' Comments and Opinions
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Good, but not outstanding
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Limited Recommendation
I thought The Band's Visit was okay; the story moved along at a good pace and was interspersed with a fair amount of humour throughout. I liked the central message of the film regarding the acceptance on one's neighbours - no matter race or religion, and I also liked Tawfiq's humility in admitting where he went wrong in life. Those things said, the script never quite got into the upper gears with respect to characterisation, story, humour or originality and I felt the production was pandering to Western appeal a little too much at the expense of exploring Israeli and Egyptian culture in more depth. Overall, a film that may well appeal to Israelis and Egyptians for a good example of home-grown filmmaking, but the remaining share of world cinema fans may be better off waiting to catch this one on television.
