The Band's Visit

Last night, my friend Outi & I went to see this movie. This was not the trailer that I originally saw. The trailer I saw (and the reason why I wanted to see the movie) seemed more light-hearted and funny. That wasn't how I found the movie to be. This trailer is more accurate to the feeling of the movie - a bit dark, somber, slow and thoughtful.

I liked it. I loved to see the familiar middle eastern images: simple plastic chairs, a meal of cut-up watermelon, nearly empty restaurants which somehow manage to stay open. You see middle eastern hospitality, even when it's a huge sacrifice.

But I left with a cloud of despair. This movie makes raw and visual some of my deepest fears. Isolation, boredom, loneliness. Many times through the movie, I wanted to jump up and scream at the characters, "Leave! Run away from that horrid place!" But of course they wouldn't; it's their home. It's what they know and what they are comfortable with.

I am most definitely NOT a movie critic. I don't look for deep meaning or cultural analyis in film. I just want to be entertained. But I did find one scene very striking and I think it reveals a lot about both the movie and about life.

It is the opening scene: a large, very plain white van sits parked at a curb. All you see is a white van against a white sky, next to a white curb. Then, the driver gets out, walks around to the back of the van, opens the doors, and removes a huge bright yellow rubber ball. He carries it to the cab of the van and pushes it in, then gets in and drives off.

This scene has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. You never see the van nor the yellow rubber ball again. But the imagery is repeated over and over in the story. Against the stark blandness of this small Israeli town, there are splashes of color. The people have colorful personalities which somehow make their bleak existance tolerable.