The Band's Visit(ביקור התזמורת)

Variety by

A warm and delightful take on cross-cultural relations that proves that sometimes a light touch is just what's needed to address serious topics.

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

Has an irresistible tragic and romantic undertow.

The New Yorker by Anthony Lane

As the film concludes with his upraised hand, conductor’s fingers unfurling against a blue sky, you do feel that you have witnessed a small victory of wisdom over indifference and ennui. When in doubt, strike up the band.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

A remote, Israeli desert town is the setting for this droll, endearing comedy about an accidental cultural exchange that very quietly says some very important things about contemporary Arab-Israeli relations.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Both sweet-natured and sharply pointed, a film whose poignant, emotional effects and subtle acting sneak up on you.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

Mr. Kolirin, it emerges, is wrenching comedy out of intense melancholia.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

I’d be lying if I said that The Band’s Visit isn’t touching and uplifting and all those other audience-friendly emotions against which film critics are believed to religiously steel themselves. But in a season rife with movies (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Grace Is Gone, The Kite Runner, et al.) that aggressively pry open viewers’ chest cavities and yank on their heartstrings, Kolirin’s film is the only one that plucks at them gently, tickling the funny bone as it goes.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

A modest and charming comedy from Israel.

Empire by Will Lawrence

A heartfelt, wry and decidedly spry film.