Bath Film Festival 2007

The Band’s Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret)

Winner of this year’s Jury Coup de Coeur prize in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section of the Cannes Film Festival, The Band’s Visit is a warm-hearted story about an Egyptian police band getting stranded in rural Israel whilst on a cultural goodwill exchange trip. At first, miscommunication and a clash of cultures ensue between the band and the Israeli townspeople but once the band accepts the hospitality of a local restaurant worker, friendship and understanding develop. This leads to the band discovering some valuable lessons in humanity. The film is a comedy of manners which manages to avoid sentimentality. Kolirin shows that when people are thrown together, political animosity and cultural differences can be overcome simply through the pleasures that all human beings can grasp such as sharing a meal, a good song and a warm welcome. VT

Submit your comments

Required fields are marked with *.

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Security Code: