The Band's Visit

I cannot fully explain the appeal this movie held over me; I just knew I was dying to see it. From the first trailer, I was 100% hooked. I don't know what it is but I have become increasingly more interested in foreign films, especially the ones that don't take themselves overly serious. This is such a film. It sounds pretentious because it is an Israeli film that prominently features Hebrew, English and Arabic, but it really is not, I promise

This plot is fairly simple: An Egyptian police band is set to play an opening ceremony of an Arts center find themselves in the wrong town. There are no buses to the right town that night, so they must find a place to stay in the wrong town. They stumble into a restaurant and the people who work at the restaurant decide to split the band up and take them in. Tewfiq (Sasson Gabal), the conductor of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, is formal and rigid in his demeanor but is able to strike up a friendship with Dina (Ronit Elkabetz). Dina is a very sexual being, but she also has a soft side and while the friendship is awkward, uncomfortable and funny, it also hints at something deeper, which is maybe why Tewfiq does not give in to the possibility of a one night stand. Another band member, Khaled (Saleh Bakri) decides to accompany local Papi (Shlomi Avraham) and his date to a roller skating rink. In a memorable scene, Khaled offers the socially backward Papi some instructions on courting his shy girl friend. It is probably the funniest scene in the movie, playing the awkward humor perfectly. And finally, Simon (Kalifa Natour) plays a lovely but unfinished composition for the clarinet for Itzik (Rubi Moscovich) who tells him that he should end the piece, not with a traditional showy display but with what is there for him at the moment, "not sad, not happy, a small room, a lamp, a bed, a child sleeping, and tons of loneliness."

The Band's Visit is a poignant, touching, hilarious and awkward movie. It does everything right from beginning to end. It is paced gorgeously, acted perfectly from all sides and tells a very simple story in a moving and beautiful way. The moments of awkward hilarity so often done wrong (See Napoleon Dynamite) work in every scene and create a world that we can recognize even though the entire movie takes place in Israel. I was incredibly impressed with Sasson Gabal because while he played the most reserved character he was also the most honest and open. He seems to be a very talented actor and he really made me feel his sadness, his loneliness. I also liked that no matter what language people were speaking they were subtitles. I enjoyed that because it gave equal weight to all languages. It was saying, English is not favored above Arabic or Hebrew. It was a mixing of cultures, languages and personalities, but it all worked together in perfect harmony. There are also moments that are truly side splittingly funny- the business with the pay phone for one.

I am sure this is not a movie for everyone, and that is a shame, but I think a lot of people would appreciate the all out humor mixed with a melancholy sadness, a sad complacency for life being what it is. It is a reminder that besides some obvious cultural differences, we are all people who experience joy and sadness. It is also a movie that fully believes in music changing lives. It is a movie that believes music does transcend language and that music can be the most beautiful thing in the world. And when we finally hear the band play, the music and the words are so incredibly beautiful it made me want to purchase Arabic music!

Final Grade: A