STOP the presses – there’s good news out of the Middle East. It arrives in the form of “The Band’s Visit,” a modest and charming comedy from Israel.
The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra – eight rumpled guys in bright blue uniforms – travels from Egypt to Israel to perform at the opening of a cultural center.
Only, they get on the wrong bus at the Tel Aviv airport and find themselves lost in a dusty Israeli backwater. Perhaps the error was for the best, for how else could the musicians have met sultry Dina?
She’s the woman who runs a roadside café in the town where the band is, but shouldn’t be. Since it’s too late to catch the right bus, band members accept Dina’s offer of overnight lodging with locals.
The band’s leader, Tawfig, and another Egyptian end up at Dina’s place. But instead of sitting around talking, Dina changes her tight jeans for a foxy red dress and takes Tawfig, a widower, out for a night on the town (what there is of it, anyway).
“The Band’s Visit” is the feature debut of director-writer Eran Kolirin, who previously worked in TV. He has an eye and an ear for comedy as he depicits the visitors’ adventures in a strange land.
Kolirin doesn’t go for belly laughs. He prefers subtle, wry humor, much in the fashion of Finland’s Aki Kaurismaki.
Ronit Elkabetz, as Dina, sizzles in an offbeat way – a mix of Cher and Vampira, if you wish. (Perhaps you saw Elkabetz in the 2001 sexcapade “Late Marriage.” If you didn’t, rent it.)
Sasson Gabai is a perfect foil as the thoughtful Tawfig. They’re an unlikely couple, to be sure, but there’s some strange chemistry brewing.
Forget all those high-profile movies opening this weekend. “The Band’s Visit” is the one to see. I’d even bet that the film will take the foreign-language Oscar, except it was rejected as Israel’s official nominee.
The bureaucrats in Hollywood ruled that it wasn’t eligible because 50 percent of the dialogue is in English, as opposed to Arabic and Hebrew. (Did they use a stopwatch?) No wonder a lot of people don’t take the Oscars seriously.
THE BAND’S VISIT
In English, Hebrew and Arabic, with subtitles. Running time: 87 minutes. Rated PG-13 (a tad too much sexuality). At the Lincoln Plaza, 63rd Street and Broadway.
vam@nypost.com