Director: Eran Kolirin
Writer: Eran Kolirin
Producers: Ehud Bleiberg, Koby Gal-Raday, Guy Jacoel, Eilon Rachkowsky, Yossi Uzrad
Starring: Sasson Gabai, Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 87 min
Along the same lines as Juno in one respect, The Band’s Visit grated on my nerves for about half of the picture; though through no fault of its own. Seeing this film with a Minnesota audience of an average age of about 65, it took a harsh toll on my patience as audience members cackled throughout the nearly 90 minute running time of the entire film, thinking everything they saw on screen was hilarious - even though there wasn’t anything particularly funny about any of the given scenes.
The Band’s Visit opens with a group of Egyptian, military band members standing in the middle of nowhere (a small town in Israel), waiting for a bus that will never show up. All wearing the same, powder-blue uniforms, the group stands out like a sore thumb and Israeli hospitality is lacking to say the least. Eventually, the group finds themselves at a small cafe run by a strong, independent woman who offers food and a place to sleep. She splits the men up to three different locations around the town; taking two herself, three at a friend’s small flat and the other two on the cafe floor. From here, the band members appear embarrassingly greatful and accept quiet conversation, a night out on the town or a quiet evening at home singing songs or playing their instruments. There really isn’t much more plot than that. The story finds its path with conversation and layers of humanity peeled away slowly but surely.
The movie definitely has some slow pacing and could get a bit tedious for some as the quirk and charm wears off and the character development starts to reveal itself. Fortunately for me, this is when the audience started to quiet down and I began to really enjoy the picture and find that these characters actually mean more to me than just a series of cute moments.
