When you never suffered of hunger, cold or health; you would never if there is any country that has this problems. Believe me there is many countries that has no money at all for the very poor people.
Brilliant and Uplifting Film
I've always been a fan of Patrick Swayze, and this is his best role to date. Om Puri, another brilliant actor, went from Indian movie star to International Superstar beautifully acting out the part of a humble yet dignified Rickshaw driver. And any movie that has Om Puri starring in it is sure to be a classic.
This is a wonderful tale about two separate lives who cross paths in the Calcutta slums. One is about Hasari Pal who moves his family from his village in search of work in the city to pay off the money-lenders and to make enough money for his daughter's marriage dowry. The other is about a disillusioned American surgeon, Max Lowe, who quits his practice after a patient dies on his operating table. He runs away to India for some soul searching.
The trip is no so easy affair when Max gets mugged and Hasari brings him to a free clinic being run by an Irish Nurse in the slums. While still trying to come to grips with his own demons, Max begins to involve himself with the clinic and its neighbors, soon coming face to face with the oppressive "godfather" of the community. Max encourages the neighbors to stand up for themeselves. Hasari, whose livlihood depends on the godfather, is reluctant to protest until events begin to spin out of control. Before long, a humble quiet rickshaw driver becomes the town hero.
What I like most about this movie is that Om Puri is the central character, not Patrick Swayze. It is almost too easy make the western foreigner save the day. Patrick Swayze does a brilliant job depicting this balance by allowing his character's hot-blooded, American nature to boil to the surface. In instances where Max is directly involved, the situation only becomes worse, and Max realizes his rough and tumble ways are only short-lived producing little effect. So Max inspires the townspeople to unite against the godfather, and they learn on their own that they can make a difference.
City of Joy has always been at the top of my list as one of my favorite films. A true treasure to watch.
Many better options to this
I read the book, have seen the movie and have visited Kolkata. I'm troubled by the book and the movie. I felt the book trivialized poverty and made a sentimental treatment of it. This is because it was viewed through the eyes of a Catholic priest and he was taking voluntary poverty. It is another matter when you have children, live in bone crushing poverty and have fewer choices available to you. (Yet Kolkata is a city of miracles in that the poorest can often find a place and a way to survive there.)
I don't think the movie came close to showing the culture of Kolkata's poor. It was very much a westernized gloss and it definitely pulled punches. Consider just one important cultural element: Indian has many great musicians who have produced centuries of beautiful music. But this film sticks us with an entirely western score.
I am in love with this region and had to read the book and see the film. But if you want to see a film about this part of the world, see anything by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen or Shyam Benegal.
In particular, Satyajit Ray - Apu Trilogy or Two Daughters. Although more modern and middle class, Aguntuk (The Stranger) is also a much better film.
What happens when a widowed mother and her two sons invite an injured drifter into their home? Put aside those modern, jaded visions of a psychotic killer on the rampage and enter the gentler, yet extremely rigid world of 1955 Suburbia USA. Jeanne Holman has lost her husband to the Korean War and is doing her best to support her family in a community that reveres conformity and frowns upon anyone who dares to be different. As Jeanne questions her chosen path, her oldest son Tom struggles to fit in with his peers and her youngest son, Gunny, who's frightened of virtually everything, is soon to be diagnosed with a serious illness. Enter a chance encounter with drifter Jack McCloud and his dog Betty Jane, and the pair temporarily move in with the Holman family. What essentially begins as one... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Patrick Swayze - Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Director(s): Martha Coolidge DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.97 Your Price: $9.97YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Patrick Swayze is a goofball criminal who suddenly finds himself strapped with his two kids. His teenage daughter escapes from an abusive orphanage, demanding her father rescue her younger brother. Dad, who may be a thief, is also a softie who decides to rescue his kids by kidnapping them from a school bus. The plot is lackluster and reveals few surprises as Swayze tries to follow his life of crime, only to be thwarted by his needy children. Child abuse, parental abandonment, and crime do not exactly make for slapstick, and this is too leaden to thrill as an adventure flick. Swayze, with his annoying laugh and manic mannerisms, is less convincing than the kids (Sabrina Lloyd and Brian Bonsall), who exude realistic desperation and pain. --Rochelle O'GormanMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Patrick Swayze - Halle Berry Director(s): Darrell Roodt DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
List Price: $9.99 Your Price: $9.99YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
"Next of Kin" is pretty much the standard vigilante movie. Only the actors were changed to protect Charles Bronson in "Death Wish" (1974) and Sylvester Stallone in "First Blood" (1982) from this overplayed formula movie.
Truman Gates' (Patrick Swayze) brother has a brand new truck and is selling wholesale cigarettes. He should be shot for that. Oh, he was. Evidently against the advice of his partner the brother decided to protect the cigarettes from hijackers with his life. On the other hand little Joey Rosselini (Adam Baldwin) is showing off and can not back down from the challenge.
Now Truman must identify the person whom his brother insulted and incarcerate him. You guest it; the rest of the kin which includes Blair (Liam Neeson) thought you were supposed to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Patrick Swayze - Liam Neeson - Adam Baldwin Director(s): John Irvin DVD Release Date: Released the 20 October 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.97 Your Price: $9.97YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Loved every bit of this movie. I found it to be very honest with its dealings on mental illness. It could be very easy to fall in love with someone and then later find out that they are mentally ill, esp since mental illness many times hits in the early twenties. Great acting, so sad yet I am sure there's a true story like this somewhere or similar to it. LOVED the song "Say Goodbye by Lauren Kinkade....I was so upset to hear I could not buy it on CD.....Its a definite hit! And so was the movie. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Melanie Griffith - Patrick Swayze - Penelope Ann Miller - Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Richard Schiff Director(s): John Kaye DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships within 2 to 3 days
List Price: $9.98 Your Price: $9.98YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
