Editor's Note: This article originally appeared last month in Venice Magazine. The Band's Visit opened last week theatrically in New York.
Eran Kolirin: The Leader of The Band’s Visit
By Terry Keefe
Beginning a film with an iconic image which fully represents the story to come is Filmmaking 101, but it’s rarely pulled off very well, simply because those types of images are hard to come by. But The Band’s Visit, from Israeli director Eran Kolirin, has a striking opener which deserves a spot in the film textbooks, so well does it set the stage, and all without a word of dialogue. A van at the airport pulls away revealing eight Egyptian men, dressed in full military police regalia, carrying lots of luggage and looking very lost. They are here to play a concert of traditional Arab music, but their supposed ride has apparently forgotten about them. Soon, a further misunderstanding involving directions has them taking a bus to a tiny town in the desert, where they wind up spending the night with a variety of locals. “I begin with images in my creative process,” comments filmmaker Kolirin on this topic of iconic imagery, “I actually started thinking about the movie based on another image though, that of the commander of the band singing [An image which actually closes the film]. But that image of the van pulling away occupied me for a long time as well, because a lot of people were telling me that the screenplay wasn’t believable. They asked me, ‘Why doesn’t someone pick them up at the airport?’” How to take away questions like that really bothered me. I know there’s a big world outside my frame, but inside my frame, I wanted to be in our own world and forget those questions. I actually originally opened the film with a couple sitting inside the van, and you think the driver is going to pick the band up in that van. But the woman starts having a baby, and it’s a very realistic scene with great pain. Like a Dogma film! And so then the van has to pull away and it sort of takes the realistic world with it, along with those questions about why people didn’t pick the band up. And the band is left standing there and the film begins.”
In the hands of Hollywood, The Band’s Visit might have ventured into fairly saccharine territory, as the Egyptian band members bond with the Israelis who put them up for the night. But Kolirin is careful to steer clear from presenting any easy solutions to the world’s problems during the course of the story. There is never any “Why can’t we all just get along?” speech. In fact, the political problems of the Middle East are never mentioned at all. The lessons learned during the night are small ones, but they nonetheless resonate. There are a few moments of human understanding and that, for one evening, is plenty. Kolirin even bristles a bit when this writer commented that parts of the film were “sweet.” “That’s making me uncomfortable,” he said with a laugh. “I can be sweet sometimes but it doesn’t describe the movie, I hope. I wanted to include a lot of feelings of loss and regret. At the same time, I feel that having some smiles doesn’t make it shallow.”
Filmed on a small budget which Kolirin says would be equivalent to approximately $750,000 U.S., The Band’s Visit is an example of what can be done with simply a good story and good actors. Says Kolirin on the topic of budget, “It sometimes is very good to be restricted as a filmmaker. There are new opportunities opening up for me now. But there is always the question of whether I should use those opportunities simply because they are there. Making a big budget film is not a goal in itself. Maybe I should go thinner and thinner. Making a movie with nothing at all, that might be the best!”
Eran Kolirin: The Leader of The Band’s Visit
By Terry Keefe
Beginning a film with an iconic image which fully represents the story to come is Filmmaking 101, but it’s rarely pulled off very well, simply because those types of images are hard to come by. But The Band’s Visit, from Israeli director Eran Kolirin, has a striking opener which deserves a spot in the film textbooks, so well does it set the stage, and all without a word of dialogue. A van at the airport pulls away revealing eight Egyptian men, dressed in full military police regalia, carrying lots of luggage and looking very lost. They are here to play a concert of traditional Arab music, but their supposed ride has apparently forgotten about them. Soon, a further misunderstanding involving directions has them taking a bus to a tiny town in the desert, where they wind up spending the night with a variety of locals. “I begin with images in my creative process,” comments filmmaker Kolirin on this topic of iconic imagery, “I actually started thinking about the movie based on another image though, that of the commander of the band singing [An image which actually closes the film]. But that image of the van pulling away occupied me for a long time as well, because a lot of people were telling me that the screenplay wasn’t believable. They asked me, ‘Why doesn’t someone pick them up at the airport?’” How to take away questions like that really bothered me. I know there’s a big world outside my frame, but inside my frame, I wanted to be in our own world and forget those questions. I actually originally opened the film with a couple sitting inside the van, and you think the driver is going to pick the band up in that van. But the woman starts having a baby, and it’s a very realistic scene with great pain. Like a Dogma film! And so then the van has to pull away and it sort of takes the realistic world with it, along with those questions about why people didn’t pick the band up. And the band is left standing there and the film begins.”
In the hands of Hollywood, The Band’s Visit might have ventured into fairly saccharine territory, as the Egyptian band members bond with the Israelis who put them up for the night. But Kolirin is careful to steer clear from presenting any easy solutions to the world’s problems during the course of the story. There is never any “Why can’t we all just get along?” speech. In fact, the political problems of the Middle East are never mentioned at all. The lessons learned during the night are small ones, but they nonetheless resonate. There are a few moments of human understanding and that, for one evening, is plenty. Kolirin even bristles a bit when this writer commented that parts of the film were “sweet.” “That’s making me uncomfortable,” he said with a laugh. “I can be sweet sometimes but it doesn’t describe the movie, I hope. I wanted to include a lot of feelings of loss and regret. At the same time, I feel that having some smiles doesn’t make it shallow.”
Filmed on a small budget which Kolirin says would be equivalent to approximately $750,000 U.S., The Band’s Visit is an example of what can be done with simply a good story and good actors. Says Kolirin on the topic of budget, “It sometimes is very good to be restricted as a filmmaker. There are new opportunities opening up for me now. But there is always the question of whether I should use those opportunities simply because they are there. Making a big budget film is not a goal in itself. Maybe I should go thinner and thinner. Making a movie with nothing at all, that might be the best!”
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