#eran kolirin

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[warningsine]

Vayehi Boker (Let it be morning) (2021), dir. Eran Kolirin

From the director of the box office hit, THE BAND'S VISIT, LET IT BE MORNING is the story of Sami (Alex Bakri) a Palestinian-born Israeli citizen living in Jerusalem who receives an invitation to his brother’s wedding forcing him to return to the Arab village where he grew up. After the wedding finishes, with no explanation, Sami's hometown is put under a military blockade lockdown by Israeli soldiers. When chaos erupts overnight amongst the villagers stuck behind the wall due to the blockade, Sami is cut off from the outside world and trapped in an unexpected situation. As he deals with questions about his own identity and hidden secrets are revealed, Sami watches everything he holds dear begin to fall apart. Written and directed by award-winning Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin, and adapted from the international best-selling novel by Palestinian author Sayed Kashua, LET IT BE MORNING is a film about a state of siege, both internal and external – centered around a man who has built a wall around his heart, and how that inner wall starts coming apart when an actual, real wall goes up around his hometown.

[shelley-sackett]

Huntington, SpeakEasy’s Co-Production “The Band’s Visit” Serves Up A Sublime Slice of Life

The cast of “The Band’s Visit” at the Huntington. Photo by T Charles Erickson “The Band’s Visit” — Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. Book by Itamar Moses. Based on the Screenplay by Eran Kolirin. Directed by Paul Daigneault; Choreography by Daniel Pelzig. Music Direction by José Delgado. Scenic Design by Wilson Chin and Jimmy Stubbs. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Aja…

[andersonvision]

Let It Be Morning is a 2021 Israeli movie that explores the struggles of Palestinians living in a small village in the West Bank. Directed by Eran Kolirin and based on the novel by Sayed Kashua, the film is a hauntingly relevant portrayal of the daily realities of life in Palestine. Today, we will take a closer look at the movie and discuss its socio-political satire, unique cinematography, and World Cinema impact. I haven't read the novel, but I enjoy the movie. The movie centers around the story of Sami, a successful Arab-Israeli journalist living in Jerusalem. One morning, he decides to visit his hometown, a small village in the West Bank. However, when he arrives, he finds that the Israeli army has sealed off the village, and he is trapped there along with the other residents. As tensions rise and the situation becomes more and more dire, Sami begins to question his own identity and the choices he has made. One of the most striking aspects of Let It Be Morning is its cinematography. The movie was shot in a documentary-style, with a handheld camera and natural lighting. This gives the film a raw and authentic feel, and adds to its sense of urgency and immediacy. The use of close-ups and long takes also helps to immerse the viewer in the story and create a sense of claustrophobia. Another noteworthy aspect of the movie is its portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rather than taking a political stance, the film focuses on the human experience of living in a conflict zone. It depicts the frustrations, fears, and hopes of ordinary people caught in the middle of a conflict they have little control over. This makes the movie not only an important commentary on the current situation in Palestine, but also a universal story about the human condition. Some last thoughts on the movie. Finally, Let It Be Morning is a movie that has the power to leave a lasting impact on its viewers. Its themes of identity, belonging, and the search for meaning in the face of adversity are universal and timeless. The movie also raises important questions about the role of media and the power of storytelling in shaping our understanding of the world around us. As such, it is a must-watch for anyone interested in cinema, social justice, or the human experience. Given the film's timing, Let It Be Morning has an interesting take on forced lockdowns being used to patrol human movement. Being trapped in an unexpected situation always produces crazy results. It's just that watching the movie really makes me want to check out the book. I'm sure having extra time and space to nail down the absurdity of the Palestinian situation makes the humor pop off more. But, the director gets the point across in under two hours. The Cohen Collection gives Let It Be Morning its best Blu-ray presentation. The Cohen Collection remains among the most reliable outlets for home video releases. Especially when it comes to arthouse movies and World Cinema titles. There aren't any special features on the Let It Be Morning disc. But, that's typical for a lower budgeted World Cinema film. The Blu-ray's A/V Quality is pretty sharp for a fairly recent Israeli movie. The 1080p transfer easily stands up to most American releases. However, it's a political tinged social drama. It's not like the lossless 5.1 master audio track had a ton to show off. But, it works. The Cohen Collection continues to mine those International favorites for American audiences. If that is your sort of thing, then check it out. Let It Be Morning is now available!

[byneddiedingo]

Rinat Matatov, Shlomi Avraham, and Saleh Bakri in The Band's Visit (Eran Kolirin, 2007)

Cast: Sasson Gabal, Ronit Elkabetz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Natour, Uri Gavriel, Shlomi Avraham, Rinat Matatov, Hilla Sarjon. Ahuva Keren, Tomer Josef. Screenplay: Eran Kolirin. Cinematography: Shai Goldman. Film editing: Arik Leibovitch. Music: Habib Shadah.

The Band's Visit is a cats-and-dogs movie: a meeting of two supposedly antagonistic cultures, in which each side learns something from the confrontation. But it avoids formula by fresh performances and a wry directorial distancing. Eight members of a police force orchestra from Alexandria, Egypt, find themselves stranded in the Israeli desert because of a misunderstanding about the name of their destination. They are supposed to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center in Israel, but they get off the bus by the side of the highway, across from a small cafe. The owner of the cafe, Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), scoffs at the notion that they are there to play at a cultural center: "Here there is no Arab culture. Also, no Israeli culture. Here there is no culture at all." The bleak little town is mostly modern high-rise apartments and the "park" has neither grass nor trees. She discovers the source of the error -- they were supposed to go to a town whose name sounded similar -- and tells them that there's not another bus until the next morning. The stubborn, autocratic leader of the band, Tawfiq (Sasson Gabal), decides to set out on foot, and the other seven band members, dressed in light blue uniforms, follow until Haled (Saleh Bakri), a handsome young violinist, complains that they haven't eaten all day. Tawfiq blows his top and puts Haled on report, but when the other band members confess their hunger, relents and returns to the cafe, where Dina feeds them and suggests that she and some of the men who hang around the cafe can put them up for the night. And so the film tracks the experiences of these strangers in a strange land through the night. We learn, for example, why Tawfiq is such a sourpuss and why the clarinetist, Simon (Khalifa Natour), is blocked in his attempts to compose a concerto. The most charming and funny scene involves Haled, who has already been established as something of a ladies' man, who goes out as a fifth wheel with Ars (Tomer Josef) and Papi (Shlomi Avraham) on their double date. Papi is upset because he has been stuck with Yula (Rinat Matatov), whom he regards as depressing. But then Papi is a virgin with no experience of women, and Haled takes it on himself to show Papi the ropes. At a small roller disco, Papi and Haled, who don't know how to skate, are sidelined. Yula tries to get Papi out on the floor, but he rebuffs her. As closing time draws near, an attendant starts packing up the plastic chairs, and Yula, who is in tears, is forced to sit on a bench with Papi and Haled, who takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and hands it to Papi, who hands it to Yula. Then Haled takes a small airline liquor bottle out of his pocket, hands it to Papi, prompting him to offer Yula a drink. She accepts and Papi returns the bottle to Haled after both have drunk from it. Then Haled places his hand on Papi's knee as a suggestion that he follow suit with Yula. Then he begins to caress Papi's knee as another suggestion. Finally, when Yula puts her hand on Papi's, Papi puts his hand on Haled's. Haled removes it: lesson over. This long single take is characteristic of director Eran Kolirin's sly style throughout the film, which was a huge hit in Israel and would have been that country's Oscar nominee for best foreign language film except that it was ruled ineligible because half of the dialogue is in English -- the language the Egyptians and Israelis use to communicate with one another. 

[ozdeg]

[moxyphinx]

Ronit Elkabetz as Dina in The Band’s Visit

[aliveandfullofjoy]

Earlier this quarantine, I posted my ten favorite new-to-me films from the first 70 films I watched since COVID hit. I just realized I added 70 more to the list (we love being furloughed). So uh, here are my ten favorite new-to-me films of this new batch of 70 (as of Monday, June 22, 2020). Again, I highly recommend them all and they're all readily available on various streaming platforms.

Malcolm X (dir. Spike Lee, 1992; USA)

The Band's Visit (dir. Eran Kolirin, 2007; Israel/France/USA)

Tea and Sympathy (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1956; USA)

Ace in the Hole (dir. Billy Wilder, 1951; USA)

Eat Drink Man Woman (dir. Ang Lee, 1994; Taiwan/USA)

One Sings, the Other Doesn't (dir. Agnès Varda, 1977; France)

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (dir. George Miller, 1981; Australia)

Within Our Gates (dir. Oscar Micheaux, 1920; USA)

Like Father, Like Son (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2013; Japan)

Pennies from Heaven (dir. Herbert Ross, 1981; USA)

[themovieworldaccordingtotps]

TPS’S 25 ADDITIONAL FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL TIME (2020 Edition)

The Band’s Visit Director: Eran Kolirin Cast: Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, Uri Gavriel, Khalifa Natour, Rubi Moskovitz, Imad Jabarin, Hilla Sarjon, Shlomi Avraham, Tarak Kopty Best Moment: Tawfiq and Dina’s bonding moment

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

The Band’s Visit (2007) was written and directed by Eran Kolirin, who was born in Holon, Israel.  Eran has 10 credits as a write and six as a director, from 1999 to 2016.  Most of his writing credits are on Israeli tv.  He began his directing career with 10 episodes of an Israeli tv series in 2001, then an Israeli tv movie in 2004 before The Band’s Visit.  His two later features, in 2011 and 2016 seem to have been ignored by American critics.

[mycinematheque]

[perry-tannenbaum]

Simmering Cauldrons in a Lonely Desert Town

Simmering Cauldrons in a Lonely Desert Town

Review: The Band’s Visit By Perry Tannenbaum

Loneliness. Isolation. Boredom. Stagnation. No, those aren’t the ways we think of the Middle East when all the newsclips we see splatter blood, anger, violence, terrorism, explosive devastation and mass migration in our faces. But in 2007, Israeli screenwriter and director Eran Kolirin explored a different side of the region in The Band’s Visit, a…

[beatriceinmessina]

Musicals To Listen to If You Like ‘The Terror’

A.K.A. the musicals that give me serious Terror vibes.  The musicals that keep me going until I get my Terror musical that is six to eight hours long, co-written by Dave Malloy and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and stars them as Francis and James respectively.  

The Band’s Visit (music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses): Based on the 2007 film Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (written and directed by Eran Kolirin), The Band’s Visit tells the story of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, who are on their way from Egypt to perform in Petah Tikvah.  Due to a language mix-up, they end up in the desert town of Bet Hatikva, and have to stay the night until the next bus comes to take them to their planned destination.  The stories are familiar on a surface level, but it’s themes and subjects of TBV -- the forming of genuine connections in strange situations, loneliness, love, and just plain humanity -- that keep putting me in mind of The Terror.  The finale song, “Answer Me”, would fit right into the last two episodes, if you ask me.  (And listen to it anyway!  The music is beautiful.)

Hadestown (music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell): A retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in a harsh world where the seasons are out of joint and people, at the mercy of the gods, frequently go hungry.  I won’t go into much more detail, since I’d rather people discover the musical themselves, but the unforgiving setting and sometimes fraught relationships (particularly between the gods Hades and Persephone) fit perfectly with The Terror.  “When the Chips are Down” and “Gone, I’m Gone” fit especially in my opinion.

Jesus Christ Superstar (music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice): I’m convinced that The Terror is the JCS of period dramas.  They both have lots of men being tender with each other, tragedy, and the one man no one will listen to.  Every time I watch the first episodes I wait for “Heaven On Their Minds” and “Damned For All Time” and they never happen.  Also, if you’ve watched The Terror twenty times and need more men making anguished faces at each other, JCS has that in spades.  (I recommend the 1973 movie, where Carl Anderson as Judas runs around the desert singing of his anguish and pain and love and conflicting feelings the way the men of The Terror can’t because it sadly isn’t a musical yet.) 

[eyeliketwowatch]

The Band’s Visit - subtle charmer

One of those rare cases, where we see an interesting looking preview on one DVD and rent it based on nothing else. This one was a pleasant little surprise. Sometimes those you go into with no preconceived notions are the best kind of movie magic. Wrote this for facebook:

Quiet little charmer of a movie. Realistic and moving without resorting to pulling too hard on your heartstrings.

3.5 stars out of 5

Released 2007, First Viewing October 2008

[where-fading-princesses-live]

About The Band’s Visit

So I’ve seen some people bring up discussion about TBV being an unrealistic, idealistic presentation of Israel, whilst ignoring the conflict with Palestine. The thing is, when you bring politics into the conversation, you’re totally missing the point. TBV is not about politics. It’s about people, and their small stories; it’s about connection and communication, not necessarily across cultural bounds and language barriers, but through music. It’s literally about people coming together through a medium which has no language, hence why it works so well in the musical format. 

Bet Hatikva, the fictional small town in the middle of nowhere of the Negev Desert , is not a sugar-coated, ideal look at Israel. Listen to the lyrics of ‘’Welcome to Nowhere’’ once more. It’s a boring, drab, dull, desert town where literally nothing happens, where the residents want to escape but find themselves trapped for reasons of their own. The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra’s unexpected visit is their little bit of excitement. But notice how the story avoids the cliche theme that the band’s visit is somehow life-changing. The show’s closing line is: ‘’Once, not long ago, a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn’t hear about it. It wasn’t very important.’’ It’s not that the band had no impact on the townsfolk whatsoever, but the story concerns itself more with attention to detail as opposed to the Big Picture; the author’s intent was more interested in telling small stories instead of a large one. Rather than making lifelong friendships or becoming seriously romantically involved, neither party reaches absolute closure. But they’ve made connections in the present moment; Dina even has a one-night stand with Haled despite her obvious attraction to her kindred spirit, Tewfiq. No one actually falls in love long-term or establishes a lasting relationship; realistically, we know these people will never see each other again. Sean Axmaker on the TCM website writes that ‘’It’s a gently low-key character piece... First-time writer and director Eran Kolirin’’ was ‘’Wary of building a film around some big theme of bridging the divide between the cultures, he kept the stories small and intimate and made a point of avoiding the expected clichés of cultural collision. As Roger Ebert wrote in his review, The Band's Visit has, by the end, ‘provided something more valuable: An interlude involving two ‘enemies,’ Arabs and Israelis, that shows them both as only ordinary people with ordinary hopes, lives and disappointments.’’’ Their commonality is ‘’loneliness and isolation’’. 

 TBV could have been about politics, but the author opted out of it because it’s nice for a change to see a Middle Eastern story that’s relatively free of problems, that decides not to tell tired stories about tribal conflict. That’s not to say there isn’t emotional and dramatic conflict between characters, but the story tends to be very self-contained in favor over real world issues. There was no need to introduce the complicated political relationship between these two cultures; that doesn’t mean it ignores the problems that persist, but they just wanted to tell a story about people, not politics. That’s why this show is so beautiful, because you can unite all these Middle Eastern audience members from all backgrounds who come see the show, in one single theatre. Broadway needs more musicals like this. They didn’t want to use TBV as an outlet for political debate-- it just is what it is: a simple story about finding common ground.