While I am only moderately informed as to Middle Eastern politics, I know enough to be intrigued by the premise of the Israeli movie, The Band’s Visit, in which a group of Egyptian musicians are stranded for a night in a small Israeli village. How would politics be addressed in the movie? How would Egyptians be portrayed?
The plot of the movie couldn’t be simpler. Eight Egyptian policemen, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, are invited to perform at the Arab Cultural Center in Petah Tiqva, Israel. No one arrives to meet their plane. Through a mispronunciation, they take a bus to Bet Hatikva instead. Nobody in this tiny, colorless town speaks Arabic, and Dina, the woman who runs the town café, tells them in English, “Here there is no Arab culture. Also, no Israeli culture. Here there is no culture at all.” There will not be another bus until the next day and no other transport is available. They are stuck in Bet Hatikva until the next morning.
Communicating with a mix of stilted English and gestures, a handful of townspeople arrange to divide up the band members amongst them for the night. The band’s commander, the stern and very reserved Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai), along with rebellious Haled (Saleh Bakri) the band’s youngest member, go with Dina (Ronit Elkabetz). Ronit Elkabetz gives Dina a kind of hopeless optimism, knowing her life will go nowhere, yet unable to stop trying. The contrast between her forthrightness and Tawfiq’s dignified control is well played. Without Dina’s prying, Tawfiq would remain very one-dimensional to the viewer, but because of it, we see him as a multi-faceted product of his own private pain.
Haled wants to go out on the town, what town there is, and invites himself along as 2 young men go to meet 2 women at a roller rink. My favorite scene involves Haled instructing one of the young men, who is completely clueless, on how to approach a girl after he has hurt her feelings. That this entire scene is with gestures alone makes it hilarious and poignant all at once. Another side plot involves band member Simon being brought home to his host’s wife’s birthday.
This is a quiet movie, but irony abounds. I particularly enjoyed the ridiculousness of the band’s pastel blue uniforms in contrast with the barren landscape. A scene in which they are all lugging their instruments in single file against complete starkness to the horizon was just perfect.
Everyone in this movie is lonely, desperate to connect with others without knowing quite how. Everyone is desperately uncomfortable in their present situation. Writer/director Eran Kolirin chooses to not address any conflict between Egyptians and Israelis, instead focusing on their mutual humanity. The barriers in this story are not political but are personal to each character. Apart from one of Simon’s hosts saying that the band members are very nice and another answering, “What else should they be?” no hint of international disconnect is seen.
Unfortunately this was not true on a more global scale. The Band’s Visit was initially banned in Egypt as “Zionist,” only finally being screened there in July. All actors are Israeli, and those with Arabic lines learned them phonetically. The Band’s Visit was Israel’s official entry in the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film. However, it was disqualified on the basis that over half of the movie contains English dialogue (the rest is in Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles). Protests that this is an accurate representation of Egyptian and Israeli speech did not sway the Academy and the film was withdrawn from consideration.
The Band’s Visit is a noble but idealistic attempt to break down stereotypes and improve international relations through seeing each other as genuine and likeable people. No matter the unlikelihood of the movie’s premise, I wish it could be true, and perhaps that is how change begins.
