The Band's Visit

Funny, sad, and full of utterly human and humane moments between Egyptian police band musicians and Israeli towns folk. Full of nuance and small sweet gems. Highly recommend.

Sweet movie. Quiet and quaint, I really enjoyed it. I kept expecting some Disney-style unrealistic splash (the band comes together to play for the town and everyone cheers), but it never came, and I really liked that. It was a slice of life, believable, refreshing, and very enjoyable.

When I watched the film for the first time, I found it slow, ponderous, and boring although compelling. Then, I watched it for a second time, and fell in love with it. The difference? I realize now that I watched it initially with my preconceptions of what a movie should be like; then, the second time, I gave myself over to the film and lived in the moment with each scene. Totally breathtaking. I cannot find words to describe all the emotional sensations I experienced. For instance, the awkwardness at the dinner table with the women's contemptuousness for the son/husband's kindness in allowing stranded strangers to spend the night; the deep pain of the father's loneliness at his wife's rejection; the embarrassment of the woman's amorous advancements being rejected, and the warm, secret enjoyment of the casual goodbye waves of the parting lovers--the confronting awareness of shared human feelings. Really good.

I vote for this as one of my favorites of all time. It is as close to a perfect film as I've ever seen, and it is not even in the same dimension of reality as the current crop of movie products with their ear-splitting audio effects that come at you from every side of the cinema, with their special digital enhancement, and with their increasingly tortured and multi-layered plots that remind one of video games.This film will seem unbearably slow if you are a fan of such current movie spew. If you slow down enough to understand that you are seeing brilliant filmmaking and photography, this is a rewarding two hours. One is struck immediately by the carefully wrought visuals...the sere desert vistas broken by the neon blue of the band members' uniforms. The dialogue is spare; one learns about each character by watching his or her face and movements. The story is straight forward: a small-town Egyptian policemen's band travels to visit a village in Israel to play a concert, when they are misdirected and end up, too late in the day to rectify their mistake, at a village with a similar name, far from their destination. The story takes place during that evening and the next morning.There are some moments from this film that are etched in my memory...one in a roller-skate disco where the noise from the crowd and the dancers obscures most dialogue. We watch the main characters from across the room and the action is over-the-top hilarious. The small art cinema where I was watching exploded in laughter time and time again, for five minutes.If you can catch it at a cinema or art theater, do see it there. If not, the DVD will be out soon.

An Egyptian police band from Alexandria travels to Israel to perform at the grand opening of an Arab Cultural Center in a small town. Somehow their connections get mixed up and they end up stranded in the middle of nowhere in Israel. The picture of the eight of them in their formal powder blue uniforms against the stark desert landscape says it all. They're lost. What happens next is not a summit meeting that will solve all the Israeli-Palestinian issues but it does show how, as human beings, we all share similar stories in this journey called life. The story centers on three main people, the very stern, rigid leader of the band, a young free-spirited ladies man in the band and a middle aged woman who runs a deli and agrees to put the band up for the night since there is no hotel and the last bus for the day has left. Both the woman and the band leader open up to each other in ways they would never have expected at the beginning of that day. This is a delightful little story that reminds us that some of the best moments in life can be the unplanned ones, the interruptions that are initially very frustrating but can be life changing or, at least, very influential. Like having a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and a stranger stops to help. Though this movie does not attempt to solve any of the world's big problems, it does remind one that, as humans, we forget that we have more in common than we realize. While world leaders may use angry rhetoric and accusations, the vast majority of the world wants to learn to get along even with those we may call 'enemies'. Enjoy this entertaining hour and half.

I remember feeling excited about this movie when I saw the previews.Finally! A movie about the oddness one would feel if travelling ina usually hostile land. When I saw "The Band" trailer, it seemedhilarious. An Egytian Band touches down in Israel with the intentionof playing at the opening of a cultural center. Their egotisticalband leader gets them lost beyond help and they end up staying wherethey are stranded in a small town where there are quirky but sleepycharacters. The only problem is...it wasn't funny. I found myselfwanting to laugh. The movie gets heavy really fast. The serousnessof these characters lives: an aging divorcee, an arguing young couple,a social awkward young adult all bog down the storyline. In the endall you can manage to do is shake your head. The only humor in themovie, as the band tries in the beginning to make their way aroundIsrael, is the sense that you're the butt of the joke. As an Egyptian-American, I was looking forward to this movie; in the end I regretted buying it.

One thing I don't see being mentioned is the brilliant hilarity of the first parts of the movie. It's been a long time since I have laughed so hard. Then the comic aspect was softened by the unfolding characters, the story, and finally, the poignancy. I don't need to see the play; the film was quite complete for me....

I won't reiterate the storyline, other reviewers have more than adequately done so. I am compelled, however, to say that this beautiful and moving film is as perfect a film as anyone could hope for. Brilliant in its observations, performances, direction, cinematography, editing and soundtrack, and the screenplay, dare I say "above all", had me gasping with appreciation and admiration; a work of genius. The actors, Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Matour and every other actor whose names I do not know, perform with such truthfulness and tender, intelligent understanding of the human spirit and the joys, regrets, tragedies, memories and dreams that are common to every man everywhere.There is not a scene that won't live on in your heart after the credits have ceased to roll. Even the briefest of scenes will affect you deeply; when the young man who waits at a public phone booth for his girlfriend's phonecall every Saturday night receives that particular Saturday's call and we hear a tiny fragment of their beautifully mundane conversation, my tears flowed and my heart leapt with joy.This is a film about music--the music of life, and as the film ended I found myself smiling broadly while tears ran down my face.I saw the film on TV and immediately went to Amazon to order it, for it is one of those films I would watch again and again. Sadly it is not available for Region 2 players (which is what I and all those I want to share this great film with have). Please, somebody tell me that it will be coming out in Region 2 format.

It's a simple premise - a visiting band showing up at the wrong, isolated, windswept location and having to find places to stay for the night - but the engagement of the open-minded Israeli locals with the stiff Egyptian bandsmen is handled beautifully and movingly. The leads in particular are superb. One to come back to for its nuances again and again.

Excellent film and well worth the rather high price.

Wonderful.

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