DVD Reviews - July 29

The Band�s Visit
Director: Eran Kolirin
Stars: Ahuva Keren, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, and Khalifa Natour
Rating: PG-13

The Band�s Visit, the charming film about a touring Egyptian police orchestra that winds up disbursal a night in the wrong Israeli town, begins with a humble disclaimer: �Not many remember this. It was not that important.�

It�s a perfect summary of exactly why writer-director Eran Kolirin�s fairy fib works so well. There is no air of importance here. There is no attack to manufacture Middle East peace. A group of Arabs cannot transform an Israeli townspeople overnight. But what if a few Israelis and a few Arabs could achieve a glimmer of understanding between them? It makes for an about believable pansy tale. There is chemistry among the three leads: The starchy police colonel and band conductor Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai), the younger, less pent-up violinist Haled (Saleh Bakri) and the Israeli restaurant owner Dina (a mesmerizing Ronit Elkabetz, who appears to experience escaped from an Almodovar film).

For a movie about an orchestra, there�s an awful lot of muteness in The Band�s Visit, and it�s used to beautiful effect, subtly underscoring cultural differences, such as the way Tawfiq�s eyes can�t help but