The Band's Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) 2007

An Egyptian police band, due to perform at the Arab Cultural Center in Beta Tikva, experiences life in a Israeli town when they find themselves stranded in a small town called Biet Haktiva instead. Biet Haktiva has no hotels, but the band is lucky enough to be offered shelter by lascivious restaurant owner, Dina (Ronit Elkabetz,) and awkward regular, Itzik (Rubi Moskovitz.)

Half of the band goes to Itzik's house, and solemnly celebrates his wife's birthday with Itzik's family. Both Itzik's family and the band twist their oral biographies to sound more impressive; thus, taking advantage of the language barrier. This only adds more tension (especially within Itzik's family) and creates an almost hostile environment. Then, gentle Simon (Khalifa Natour) serenades them with his unfinished overture for concerto on his clarinet. The only one that seems to appreciate it is Itzik. Regardless of the unpleasantness created by others, Simon and Itzik find meaning in one another despite their ephemeral interaction.

The other half of the band is divided up even further due to space issues. Two of them stay in Dina's restaurant and sleep on the floor, while the other two stay in her apartment. Khaled (Saleh Bakri,) a lady's man who serenades women he fancies with a
Chet Baker tune, is forced to go with the authoritative band leader, Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai,) who feels he needs to make sure he stays out of trouble. Dina finds herself drawn to the old-fashioned Lieutenant-colonel, Tawfiq Zacharya and takes him out for a quiet night on the town where they begin to understand each other and develop a deeper fondness for one another. Eventually Khaled, left alone in Dina's apartment, finds himself bored of chugging from an airport-sized bottle of booze, goes back to the restaurant, and finds Papi (Shlomi Avraham) who is rather reluctant to take Khaled out on a double date. But the persistent Khaled gets his way...much to Papi's advantage.

The Band's Visit is optimistic in its message, and demonstrates how simple it is to look past ethnic boundaries and crippling assumptions, and how similar people really are at the core. Perhaps Simon's unfinished concerto is symbolic of a sort of history in the making. The coming of an era of peace and tolerance. The Band's Visit is filled with humble poetic moments that reference anything from Shakespeare to Wes Anderson, yet finishes with a voice of its own. Writer/Director Eran Kolirin does what any good filmmaker aspires to do, he deals with very serious issues without hitting you over the head with them. More than 50% of the dialogue is in broken English, which makes for great pop references, and the rest is in Arabic and Hebrew. Definitely a must-see.