Less is more

The theme here is the need for friendship and accommodation between Arabs and Israelis.

Ronit Elkabetz and Sasson Gabai in a scene from The Band's Visit

The Band's Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) (M) 4½ stars Limited national release TWO new releases coincidentally share a theme: the need for friendship and accommodation between Arabs and Israelis. The Adam Sandler vehicle You Don't Mess with the Zohan handles the theme with a crudeness that is startling even by the very crude standards of contemporary Hollywood comedy, while an Israeli film, The Band's Visit, is a model of restraint and subtlety. There are no prizes for guessing which will find the larger audience.

The Band's Visit, a witty, elegant and deeply affecting film from first-time Israeli writer-director Eran Kolirin, is about the need to break down distrust and enmity between Arabs and Jews. Cutting through the seemingly endless conflict between extremists and provocateurs on both sides, Kolirin introduces ordinary characters thrown together in unusual circumstances: Egyptians and Israelis who, after initial hostility and suspicion, discover they have quite a lot in common. It's a profoundly humanist message, but the film transcends suspicions of glib liberal wish fulfilment thanks to the visual humour and elegance with which it has been made.

This is evident from the opening images. Eight members of the Alexandria Ceremonial Orchestra, in their smart pale-blue uniforms, are waiting patiently at an Israeli airport to be collected. Under the leadership of the benign yet stern Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai), they have come to give a concert at the Arab Cultural Centre in the town of Beta Tikva, but there's obviously been a breakdown in communication. The men, the youngest of whom is Khaled (Saleh Bakri), are awkward, uneasy, far from their familiar surroundings and in enemy territory.

Tawfiq, proud and aloof, decides he will lead them to their destination without outside help, but unfortunately the bus they take drops them off at Peta Tikva, an extremely small desert community where most of the social activity centres on the cafe run by the supremely self-confident Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), who treats the displaced strangers with a mixture of disdain and compassion, leavened with a tart, cheeky sense of humour. There are no more buses that day, she explains, so she invites Tawfiq and Khaled to stay overnight at her apartment and finds accommodation among her friends for the other six.

The rest of the film depicts the breaking down of fear and suspicion. Visitors and hosts share a love of music (a scene in which Arabs and Jews come together to sing Gershwin's sublime Summertime is a memorable one), and Khaled, a ladies' man, is able to assist his immature, socially inept Jewish friend Papi (Shlomi Avraham) in the mysteries of courtship at a roller disco: a sequence that is both funny and touching.

Enhancing the gentle comedy is the precise and perfectly framed visual style employed by Kolirin and cinematographer Shai Goldman. Despite what was presumably a tight budget, the film transcends its limitations with the beauty and wit of its images, evoking the dry comedy of Finnish master Aki Kaurismaki. Impeccably acted, The Band's Visit is an astringent tonic and a reminder that, sometimes, big issues can best be tackled through intimate human stories.