The Hit Band

September 9, 2007 - 11:30 AM by Stephanie

Over the weekend I went to see The Band’s Visit. It’s an Israel-directed film that’s been getting a lot of attention lately – accolades and awards at The Cannes Film Festival including the International Critics’ Award, U.S. distribution rights snatched up by Sony and critical acclaim at Colorado’s Telluride Festival.

David of 21C wrote about it a few weeks ago. But what REALLY prompted me to see it was a television news report showing viewers at one of the film festival screenings giving the film a, like, ten minute standing ovation.

The synopsis: An Egyptian police orchestra invited to play a concert in Israel gets lost/stranded in a “nowhere” fictitious Israeli desert town by accident. What happens after that is life the way life just sorta happens.

This is director Eran Kolirin’s first time out there and he did it with a bang. It’s good stuff. Israeli actor Sasson Gabai’s dialogues were entirely in Arabic or English, most of Ronit Elkabetz’s were in English and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri was simply scrumptious both eye-candy and charm-wise.

The film doesn’t deal with politics but, rather, with humankind. And the empty spaces inside we all try to fill. And how, in the process, we try to connect with each other and learn things along the way. It just feels right timing, filming and tension-wise.

Yep, go see it. And look for it at the next Oscars ceremony, me-thinks.

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