November 02, 2008

The Band's Visit

The Band's Visit certainly deserves the overwhelmingly positive reviews it has recevied on Rotten Tomatoes. The film represents the debut work of a young Israeli film director, Eran Kolirin, who does a wonderful job exploring Middle Eastern social and cultural tensions albeit in a remarkably understated--and even humorous--manner. Kolirin diffuses the tragic stories behind many of the characters through highly clever and subtle comedy, starting with the film's opening narrative caption: "Once--not long ago--a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this...It wasn't that important." The irony, of course, is that the police band's visit ultimately becomes an extremely important event for everyone involved and demonstrates how art, especially music and film, can connect all humans through universal emotions and experiences like love and loss. For me, The Band's Visit provided a much needed respite from my bleeding political ulcer.

2 comments:

Greg said...

I just got it in the mail. I am excited to watch it. Bekah is not convinced that it will be good. Then again, she is skeptical about most enjoyable things/activities.

Sidney said...

Patrick , in response to the post on Natalie's Blog:
You're to young to remember the best female comedian ever to grace SNL, the late Gilda Radner. But in her famous words, (after she would rant on and on about something some one would step in and correct her) "never mind"