Arab culture is notorious for its hospitality and emphasis on good manners, among other things. Israeli culture is equally known for its rudeness and bad manners, among other things. These two phenomena collide in “The Band’s Visit,” a film about the Alexandria Police Orchestra getting lost in Israel on its way to a concert.

The clash of cultures permeates the background of the movie — Col. Tewfiq Zacharia, the bandleader, tries phoning for information at the airport. Every time he gets an operator, they put him on hold with some muzak, an annoyance considering his importance as the band’s head honcho.

There’s also the scene where a young Israeli woman walks by the musicians and drops some money into one of their hats, thinking they’re bums. And their group picture, which is interrupted by a janitor walking in front of them to take out the garbage, indifferent to what’s going on behind him.

The movie is a subtle exploration of the differences between Arabs and Jews and delves deeper into their lives in this drama set in a bleak desert town that sees few visitors. The band finds that out the hard way after asking for directions to their gig at the Arab Culture Center and accepting the hospitality of a local restaurant owner named Dina, who splits the band up between various friends for lodging because the town has no hotels.

It’s at this point that various personal issues among the band members and Dina’s friends emerge through their conversations and experiences together. They emerge refreshed and optimistic on life.

Col. Zacharia, for instance, opens up to Dina about how his wife died of a broken heart from their only son’s suicide. Khaled —  the violinist whose biggest objective in Israel is to get laid — goes out with one of Dina’s male friends and teaches him how to act with the woman he’s on a blind date with. Simon, the orchestra’s number two, feels unfulfilled in his music career, both because of a concerto he has yet to finish and because he wants to conduct, but Col. Zacharia refuses to allow him to do so.

On the Jewish side, there’s Itzik, who lives with his wife, child and his parents in a cramped apartment and hosts three band members. He explains to Simon how his wife wasn’t always disappointed with him until he became chronically unemployed. And Dina, who seems secure in her life, hides the pain of not having a husband and family, left only with her empty apartment and her occasional affair with Sammy, whom they met along with Sammy’s wife and two kids.

Overall, the movie is a well-made comedy that moves with the slow and subtle rhythm of Middle Eastern films — there’s no slapstick, bathroom humor or special effects, nor are there any goofy characters, like the ones Will Ferrell plays.

The only real problem with the film is the socio-political context in which the drama plays out. Israel is portrayed as a welcoming society; anti-Arab prejudice is only hinted at by Dina when Col. Zacharia asked her why everyone at the restaurant they were eating at was staring at them.

“Because they still live in the stone age,” she remarked, before telling him how much she loved Egyptian movies and Omar Sharif. The movie is premised on the idea that contact between cultures dispels stereotypes on an individual level, which, while true, is a cinematic cliché that’s played out and pointless. It’s also hopelessly sentimental, with no historical background to the drama — just an insignificant visit without politicians and politics, ending with the concert amidst the fluttering Egyptian and Israeli flags.

Hatikva means “hope” in Hebrew, but aside from the entertainment value, there’s little, if any, hope that this movie serves any useful purpose.