The Leader

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Film

It's a pleasure to find a film set in Israel that doesn't involve the ongoing conflict with Palestine or the recent tensions with Hezbollah. It's also refreshing to visit a city in Israel that isn't Tel Aviv, to meet characters that aren't soldiers or politicians. Finally, it's inspiring to view a film that doesn't demonize Arabs as terrorists or extremists. Instead, Eran Kolirin's "The Band's Visit" shows a more rural side of Israel, populated with down-to-earth, kind people, who without payment open their homes to an Egyptian Band comprised of police officers lost on their way to a performance. It's a small film composed of small moments, small relationships, and small joys.

In a lot of ways, "The Band's Visit" is a quiet film. While there is a fair amount of dialogue spanning the English, Arabic, and Hebrew languages, the film's main characters, the members of the band, are reserved. Sure, the band's playboy, Khaled, flirts with plenty of girls, but even his relatively loquacious wooing is modest. By contrast, the band's conductor, Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya, says very little. His relationship with Dina, a restaurant owner, is one of unspoken attraction, one of implicit tension and, ultimately, one of somber disappointment. More is told through expressions in this film than through words. And it works. Whether a sad smile, a stern gaze, or a lackadaisical stare of ennui, the characters never fail to communicate a mood, a feeling, or a thought. In this way, the characters become more enigmatic. More human.

More than anything, "The Band's Visit" does a great job of creating a film full of tension that never involves a climatic outburst. After being forced to stay over night in the small Israeli town, the Egyptian band is split up into several households. In each location, a different aspect of Israeli life reveals itself. At the restaurant, the older band members sit around contemplatively, wordlessly practicing their instruments in the cool night air. At Dina's apartment, Khaled and Tawfiq tacitly vie for Dina's attention. Of course, it is apparent Dina immediately takes a liking to the older Tawfiq, a man with a painful past. Through their conversations, largely consisting of Dina's prying questions, both their histories are revealed. While they never make love, the connection between Tawfiq and Dina becomes the strongest in the movie, and although many may end up disliking her, few will be able to claim she is not a convincing character. At still another location, Khaled teaches a young Israeli man the secret to interacting with girls, a scene which ends hilariously with the young man miming Khaled's actions. When Khaled rubs the young man's thigh, the man knows to rub the thigh of the weeping girl next to him. It's awkward, uncomfortable, and funny, especially considering the skating rank and disco atmosphere.

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