THE BAND'S VISIT created some press during the 2008 Oscar season when the Academy denied it as Israel's official entry for Best Foreign Language film. When it comes to how the Academy deals with foreign language films, I've written on numerous occasions that it's greatly flawed, but this time it's hard to argue against their point of view. The film has less subtitled dialogue than some episodes American TV dramas. This means little to the merits of the film, but does draw attention to its accessibility. The subtitle adverse should not be scared of this charming, lighthearted comedy on relations between Israelis and Arabs. This human story crosses cultural boundaries with ease, and English plays a part in doing so.
An Egyptian police band has traveled to Israel to perform at the opening of a new Arab cultural center. No one shows up at the airport, so they're on their own. The group of uniformed men ends up on the wrong bus, which drops them off in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. Their leader Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya (Sasson Gabai, RAMBO III) is a stiff, stern, proper man, who at first has trouble accepting the help of Israeli café owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz, LATE MARRIAGE). Because there are no hotels in the town, she sets it up with her friends to take in a few of the band members each. She wants Tawfiq, and he won't stay anywhere where he can't keep his eye on the youngest member of the band and resident ladies man Haled (Saleh Bakri).
That evening the eight band members in their sky blue uniforms will get to know their hosts. English is the language they have in common and helps bridge the language barrier. Dina invites Tawfiq to see the town with her, and he reluctantly obliges. At first our instincts are that she will go for Haled, but it actually makes more sense when we get to know the characters. Dina is closer to Tawfiq's age and she has an innocent secret that might explain her instant attraction to him. Haled ends up going to a roller rink with the awkward Papi (Shlomi Avraham) and his friends. In the funniest scene, Haled plays Cyrano for the young man who doesn't know what to do on a date. The band's meek second-in-command Simon (Khalifa Natour) will have a chance to play his unfinished sonata for his hosts, who trying to make the band members welcome despite some uncomfortable circumstances.
Gabai and Elkabetz have real chemistry despite their opposite personalities. Elkabetz makes Dina lively and outgoing, and sometimes too blunt. She exudes sexuality, and doesn't have to say what she wants in words. The band's mistake visit is the most exciting thing to come to her small town in a long time. Through the night, their conversations will reveal a great deal about their inner life and their haunted pasts. Their stories remind us that people of different cultures aren't as different as they might seem.
Writer/director Eran Kolirin isn't setting out to make a grand statement about Arab-Israeli relations. In doing so, he comes closer to bridging the gaps between the two cultures than many of the films that take the topic head on. In revealing the common experiences and desires of the characters, they become less foreign to each other. The bittersweet ending is one of missed opportunities. But sometimes, in our memories, the chance for something special is more powerful, because the "what if" fantasy is hopeful and untainted by reality. Hope is exactly the right emotion for a story about contemporary Arab-Israeli relations.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
