The Band's Visit is a charming and tender meditation on loneliness and the essential need for human connection.
Comment
02/28/08
The Band's Visit (2007)
98
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:108
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.9/10
Consensus: The Band's Visit is both a clever, subtle slice-of-life comedy, and poignant cross-cultural exploration.
Theatrical Release:09-11-2007
Synopsis: Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin's debut feature, THE BAND'S VISIT, is a subtle, heartfelt, and humane work that goes a long way toward dissolving the incredibly complex cultural divide that... [More]
Starring: Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Natour
Director: Eran Kolirin
Reviews for The Band's Visit
A drama about isolation and communication, The Band's Visit is characterized both by strongly delineated characters and low-key comedy.
02/27/08
In turns tender and awkward yet always with an eye towards the universal language of hope.
02/25/08
...a hopeful film that looks forward to the day when Israelis and Arabs are at peace and can focus on the little victories and setbacks of everyday life.
02/23/08
Every frame of this low-key delight is about foreignness.
02/22/08
There's nothing subtle about the lesson in human-to-human detente in a sea of hostility. It's a nice try, if a bit over-rated.
02/19/08
The film's sweetness, simplicity, and sincerity are hard to overstate, and probably impossible not to like.
02/18/08
A sweet little film about the universality of loneliness, The Band's Visit succeeds admirably whenever it doesn't attempt to exceed its modest scope.
02/17/08
What a lovely first feature this is from Israeli director Eran Kolirin, brief at a mere 80-plus minutes but never in a rush, never loud, always willing to wait for the emotion to bubble up quietly from the situation.
02/15/08
Eran Kolirin's insightful little film -- about a starched band of cop-musicians whose travel plans go awry -- is more than about what happens when ostensible enemies get to know each other.
02/15/08
There's just one thing wrong with The Band's Visit: it's fiction, not a documentary. You want a story as warm as this to be real, because good news is scarce from the Middle East.
02/15/08
An inconsequential little movie that is worth seeing solely because of its touching and genuine characters.
02/14/08
both a clever parable on the state of Israeli/Egyptian relations, as well as a surprisingly affectionate, amusing tale.
02/11/08
If the Great Stone Face himself were around today, this is the kind of narrative he might well find himself in the middle of.
02/08/08
A truly lovely film, as patient and generous with its characters as viewers should be with its delicately latent politics and occasional over-love of eccentric tableaux.
02/08/08
This modest little fable from Israel, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, has spellbinding resonances, yet never breaks the spell by blowing its own horn.
02/08/08
At moments, the movie is almost sentimental, but the performances save it every time.
02/08/08
Eran Kolirin's fish-out-of-water comedy-drama is a real treat, often funny and genuinely moving.
02/08/08
The film leaves us with the notion that music; sweet simple notes arranged in brilliant order, is one language where even Jews and Arabs can find harmony
02/08/08
When The Band's Visit ends we feel refreshed and fulfilled.
02/07/08
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