Graeme Hobbs enjoys the band's performance in this wry and touching Israeli comedy.
"Once, not long ago, a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this, it was not that important.” So begins this tender, poignant comedy of sorts that has provoked admiration wherever it has been shown, going so far as to win the ‘Coup de Cœur du Jury’ at Cannes in 2007.
The Alexandria Ceremonial Orchestra, immaculately buttoned-up in their sky blue uniforms, and under the charge of Lieutenant-colonel Tewfiq Zacharya, travel to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab Culture Centre in Petah Tikva. Unfortunately they entrust the directions from the bus station to their Chet Baker-idolising violinist, who is more interested in singing My Funny Valentine through the glass to the information girl than getting them to their destination, and they find themselves in Beit Hatikvah, a bleak and dusty dead-end nowhere. “There’s no Arab Centre here” they are told. ‘No Arab Culture Centre?’ says Lieutenant-colonel Tewfiq Zacharya. “No. No Culture. Not Israel, not Arab, no culture at all.”
From this point, with the daily bus having already departed and little Israeli currency in ther band members’ pockets, they are reliant on the locals, especially Dina, owner of the local restaurant, who offers them hospitality, arranging beds for them with her and her customers. As the others settle down to excruciatingly monosyllabic meals with their hosts, she takes Tewfiq out for the evening; a forthright Israeli woman in her red dress and an embarrassed Egyptian officer trying to maintain his dignity. The situation most made for comedy, it’s actually the most moving section, as the unlikely pair find a profound common bond in regret.
No larger problems are solved here (and only once even faintly alluded to), but this is the undercurrent that feeds this beautiful little film, in the same way that the heartfelt emotions revealed feed the traditional music that the band plays at the end. What does happen in the film is that the characters gain a liitle in understanding, respect and compassion for each other, and the world needs as much of that as it can get.
The Egyptian police force band, under Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya, go to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center. Unfortunately they entrust the directions to the Chet Baker-idolising violinist, who is more interested in chatting up girls than getting them to their destination, and they find themselves in a dead-end town in the middle of nowhere, where they have to rely on locals for hospitality.
No great wrongs are righted, no problems solved, no great loves found or lost - but the way this beautiful little bittersweet comedy knows that all of these things are just off-stage somewhere is part of its secret.
Persepolis
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The Band's Visit
