Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (2007)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Eran Kolirin

Writer:

Eran Kolirin (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 2007 (Israel)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Once-not long ago-a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this...It wasn't that important.

Plot:

A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town.

Plot Keywords:

Israel | Orchestra | Lost | Bus | Musical Instrument

Awards:

40 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Sasson Gabai	...	Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya
Ronit Elkabetz	...	Dina
Saleh Bakri	...	Haled
Khalifa Natour	...	Simon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shlomi Avraham	...	Papi
Uri Gavriel	...	Avrum
Imad Jabarin	...	Major-general Camal Abdel Azim
Ahuva Keren	...	Lea
François Khell	...	Makram
Hisham Khoury	...	Fauzi
Tarak Kopty	...	Iman
Rinat Matatov	...	Yula
Rubi Moskovitz	...	Itzik
Hilla Sarjon	...	Iris
Eyad Sheety	...	Saleh
Tomer Yosef	...	Ars

Also Known As:

La visite de la fanfare (France)
The Band's Visit (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Israel | France | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG | South Korea:12 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:o.Al. | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:S | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | New Zealand:M | Iceland:L | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Yeruham, Negev Desert, Israel

Company:

July August Productions

Trivia:

The movie was selected to be Israel's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV), but it was disqualified by AMPAS because more than 50% of the film's dialogue was found to be in English, as opposed to Arabic and Hebrew. After an unsuccessful appeal, Israel sent Beaufort (2007) instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tewfiq tells Khaled they have a long day tomorrow in Dina's apartment, Tewfiq is shown putting his hand on Khaled's shoulder in the shot from behind Khaled, but in the shot from the front, Tewfiq is seen holding Khaled's upper arm.

Movie Connections:

Features Ha-Shoter Azulai (1970)

Soundtrack:

My Funny Valentine

Our view of their view of us

With a strained formal demeanor and a face wrinkled with vulnerability, Sasson Gabai's bandleader is a direct descendant of Shaike Ophir's Policeman (Azulai) in the bittersweet Israeli movie of that name. This is not a bad ancestry to have, but for a character who is supposed to be Egyptian it's a little awkward. Today Egypt is a grumpy neighbor that has as little contact with Israel as possible, and Egyptians-- or anyone else-- could consider it presumptuous of us Israelis to bring out a movie about the reaction of an Egyptian orchestra to being stranded in Israel. Who are we to characterize them? But the movie was obviously made with an abundance of good will and the foreign press has been kind.

The Band's Visit was nominated Israel's candidate for the Foreign Film Oscar, but it had to be withdrawn because not enough of the dialogue was non-English. (Perhaps the most unrealistic aspect of the film, other than a public telephone that inexplicably operates for free, was everybody's fluency in English.)