DVD Review: The Band’s Visit
Written by: Shayne at 9:02 pm
Movie Info:
Writer: Eran Kolirin
Director: Eran Kolirin
Cast: Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, Khalifa Natour
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment
Release Info:
Theatrical Release:May 19, 2007 (Cannes)
DVD Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $19.99
Most Americans consider the lives of Middle Easterners only as much as they have to. Sure, they hear about things going on in the Middle East daily, but that has nothing to do with really thinking about the people that live in those countries or how they live their lives. The Band’s Visit gives an interesting, albeit fictional, look into the lives of some of these people. While I could guess that the mundane parts of this movie would not hit high notes in the Middle East, in America it is interesting and enjoyable to watch.
There are moments when The Band’s Visit may move slower than other, similar, films. Considering this is going to be a movie with actors that the average American is unfamiliar with, I feel that this is an excellent first look into what these actors have to offer. Some good performances are given all around, which is even more impressive whan the story probably would not have been, had it been filmed with an American cast. This group not only makes the best of what they have, their performances end up being more entertaining than you could imagine, and they shine throughout.
I cannot find a reason to point out one flawed performance because I really don’t feel there was one. The cast includes Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, and Tawfiq Zacharya. These actors all put in exceptional performances and I would be more than happy to watch more of their work in the future. When you hear about this movie you might think it’s going to be totally different than it is. When you hear about some Egyptians getting lost in Israel you might think this is an action movie not a simple sort of feel good film. No matter what you might think that is what it is, and despite being slow at parts, it is excellent for what it is.
The The Band’s Visit Plot
All you get is 24 hours, but in the end that’s all you need to experience a day in the lives of the Alexandria Police Orchestra, an Egyptian performance group that ends up going to play a show and getting lost in Israel while looking for the town they are supposed to be entertaining. These days, being lost is the least of the band’s troubles. They are struggling to keep the group together, managing things on tiny paychecks and now they are lost to top things off.
The band goes to Israel looking for the town of Bet Hatikva, where they will be performing at an Arab Cultural Center. The group gets on a bus, heading for their destination only to end up in another village that is similar in name…only. The band members have no choice but to wait things out for the time being, so during their 24 hour stay they get to mingle with the locals and wait until they are able to get out of that town.
It may sound like a slow moving train to nowhere, but some good performances and a taste of some excellent, culturally diverse music at the end, make it all worthwhile. The Band’s Visit is a surprisingly good film. You might expect it to fail in a number of ways, but it will surprise you. It’s just one of those kinds of films.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability: 
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The level of detail in the visual areas of The Band’s Visit is certainly refreshing. The villages come out looking detailed, the colors are sharp and seem to pop out at you, and the blacks look just as sharp as they should. The film sports a transfer ratio of 1.78:1 in anamorphic widescreen. Considering the usual things that are complainable offences, there is nothing here in The Band’s Visit that is worth bringing up.
The audio for this film is offered up in a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The film uses three languages including Arabic, Hebrew, and English. In order to make sure you’re in the know the entire time, the film is subtitled in English when English is not the main on-screen language. You can also opt to play the subtitles throughout the film. It should be noted that English is the only available language for the subtitles. Like the visual quality, there is not much worth complaining about here.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
There are not too many bonus features here, unless you want to count the previews. If you count the previews (each one individually) then you have plenty to look at. Previews for The Band’s Visit include Married Life, My Kid Could Paint That, Moliere, Vitus, The Jane Austen Book Club, Brick Lane, Persepolis, When Did you Last See your Father, Steep, and Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains.
As for specific special features for The Band’s Visit all you get is a theatrical trailer, a photo gallery that contains around 30 images and a 14 minute featurette, “The Band’s Visit: Making the Fairy Tale”. This featurette is in Hebrew and includes English subtitles. While this is interesting, overall this area could use some work because there really wasn’t enough here to bother.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
The Band’s Visit was surprisingly good. I am not going to claim it was the best movie of the year or put it on anyone’s must rent list, but I will say those who make an effort to watch this just may be shocked at the good time they have. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I watched this movie, but I think what I found surprised me even more. You won’t regret watching this, although I would recommend renting it first because this may be something that some people only need to see once to fully appreciate.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: The Band’s Visit, Sony Home Entertainment, Israel, Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, Khalifa Natour, Movie, DVD Review
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Written by Shayne - Visit Website
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I am the proud Papa of a son, Dylan Michael Keller. Other than spending time with my son, I have two main obsessions in life; video games & movies. Often, the two accompany time spent with Dylan. I've been married to Andrea for 13 years this December. One thing I've learned about married life is to always expect the unexpected. After nearly eleven years with just the three of us, and our Golden Retriever, Braeden, I've just found out I'm going to be a dad again. In my professional life, I'm a bit of a cyber geek. I enjoy D&D, writing stories, role-playing, computer games, working on websites, and just hanging out. I work for a computer firm doing computer-tech type work and that's all I can really say about my job. In my fantasy life, I escape to the world of film. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've seen The Return of the King at least 37 times. I signed up to review movies, and you can guarantee I'll do the job right. I hope you enjoy my reviews and always remember kids...Make Love, Not Warcraft.
