As seen at AFI
Fest 2007:
Eran Kolirin’s
The Band’s Visit is, in a sentence, a deadpan Israeli
picture that juggles light-hearted comedy and human drama. The
movie is wholly likeable and entirely inoffensive but, as that
brief description would indicate, also neither treads new
artistic territory nor engages the audience beyond a
conventional degree. As I watched the story unfold, I certainly
developed sympathy for its many characters and was somewhat
interested in their emotional plights, but not once did the film
really impress me or teach me anything new. Sure, The Band’s
Visit is a nice piece of work from first-time film-director
Kolirin, but there is no reason to seek it out in theatres when
it will be available for low-key home viewing in a matter of
months.
The Band’s
Visit opens with an introductory line of text that perfectly
captures the tone of what’s to come: “Once—not long ago—a small
Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember
this... It wasn't that important.” Indeed, this is exactly what
the movie is about; it is a no-frills character drama of little
consequence. Veteran actor Sasson Gibai plays Tawfiq, the police
band’s stern leader. Tawfiq must take his group to an Arab
Cultural Center where they have been invited to play. The
process ends up being much more of a chore than he had expected,
however, when the men end up taking a bus to the
middle-of-nowhere town of Beith Ha-Tikvah (rather than Petah
Tikvah, where they are actually supposed to play). With little
Israeli money in his pockets, Tawfiq enlists the aid of kind
local restaurant owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), who offers to help
the members of the band find places to stay for the night and
then see them on their way to Petah Tikvah the next day.
The Band’s
Visit smartly chooses not to try to gain the interest of the
viewer through its rather conventional story. (That is,
conventional in a structural sense… not, of course, in the sense
that movies about police bands are so common these days.)
Instead, the movie focuses on deriving modest pleasures from its
off-kilter tone. It is delivered in an ingeniously droll manner,
dryly coming to win the audience over. In many respects, Kolirin
appears to be channeling the wildly understated style of
accomplished Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki. This comparison
proves apt in that the viewer comes to sympathize for these
characters mainly because they are lovably pathetic, a
common tendency in Kaurismäki films. Selah Bakri’s Haled is
particularly endearing in this respect. As a means of breaking
the tension in dialogue-exchanges, he often asks other
characters: “Do you like Chet Baker?” When they respond in a
perplexed manner, Haled merely proceeds to uproariously croon
Baker’s “My Funny Valentine” in a softly dark manner that is
impossible not to be entertained by.
Clocking in at
a painless eighty-seven minutes, The Band’s Visit is a
tough movie not to like. Still, there isn’t anything inherently
fresh or surprising about it other than its slick, affably
maudlin delivery. Fond as I am of the movie, I openly recognize
that its concept could’ve just as well made for a good sitcom.
In other words, The Band’s Visit is as forgettable as it
is satisfying, an ordinary if obliging cinematic concoction.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published on:
11.22.2007
Screened on:
11.4.2007 at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, CA.
The Band's Visit is rated PG-13 and
runs 86 minutes.
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