The Band's Visit

I saw this movie the other night and it has left quite an impression on me. In a day where movies are predicated upon fast cars, beautiful young women, and superficial, cheesy lines, this one stands out like a gem.

The movie essentially involves the visit of a band from Egypt to Isreal. They get lost and seek refuge for a day in the home of the owners of a fast food joint in the middle of the desert. Some people thought the movie was of comical nature, but I thought it had a tragic element. The message is one of universal value about the all-pervasive, sometimes painful human condition: loneliness.

The message is that whether you are a Jew or an Arab, you are alone in this universe. Despite the difference in customs, beliefs, traditions, mores and values of our unique cultures, we all are familiar with the pangs of this 'universal human condition,' as Nietzsche once quipped.