City of Joy (1992)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Must See Movie...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Hazari Pal (Om Puri) and his family are homeless peasants forced to leave their village. They arrive in Calcutta and is con out of their savings almost immediately. American non-practicing doctor Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) gets beaten by thugs and everything stolen. Hazari sleeping in the street nearby comes to his rescue. Max is taken to Joan Bethel (Pauline Collins) and her City of Joy. Hazari gets a rickshaw job from the Godfather whose son cruel Ashok Ghatak was the one that had his thugs beat up Max.This is one of the old fashion White Savior movies. In fact, I would prefer the White Savior to be more standard. Max is a bit annoying. He says he wants enlightenment at the start but he acted more like a clueless ugly American. Om Puri again delivers like he always does. His character is terrific and balances out any deficiency in Max. Max needs the fire that is in his character but also the smarts and understanding of Joan. Also the story could be more compelling if it ended with the confrontation against Ghatak. The trial could have led directly to a climax. The movie goes on a little too long after that.

An good-hearted and inspiring film. Those with a taste for gritty film-noirs won't like it. Swayze is bit too picture-perfect, and the characters maybe 2-D, but I don't mind. I love Joffe's themes of redemption, self-sacrifice, and compassion in midst of a world of hate and cruelty. Be leery of critics who are too harsh on this movie. I especially love the portrayal of the Indian people. I gave it a 10 because I didn't like the fact that the IMDb average is weighted at 5.8. Some people have their own agenda: maybe they don't like Swayze, don't like Joffe, whatever. Don't trust these ratings and evaluate the movie according to your own values.Is the story a moral tale about personal redemption? Is it about class struggles and therefore a political drama? For some, there may be an issue with incoherence. (I found that to be the case for the Killing Fields). I personally like who Joffe blends these subplots and themes, making a human drama that is relevant to the individual and society at the same time.

The movie is not bad. It is based on the book by the same name by Dominique Lapierre, and if my understanding is right has the author's blessings. The characters even have similar if not same names but it is not the same story. However it is true to the spirit in which the book was written.Another interesting comparison with the book is that just like the movie, the book is as controversial, especially in India and among middle class Indians and Indians abroad. Indians do not like to speak about their slums to foreigners and do not like foreigners to speak about them by themselves. Rich and middle-class Indians who make about one-fourth of the country are the most influential people in the country and make the interlocutors with the Western world. I know because I am one of them. If our country is our home, this is a skeleton in our closet. And because there is a skeleton in our closet, we try not to step into it and do not let other and hate those who do step in when we are not looking. The controversy is an indication that lot stuff in the movie is actually worth seeing.Also it is not unusual for a poor man in India to choose to die with dignity than live in shame, Indian girls do flirt even if it is 'untraditional' and there are people who try to live by exploiting the poor, people who most others will call cruel. The movie could have done a better job capturing the fact that western ideas can affect the way some people in India behave just as Indian ideas make some westerners reformulate their ideas and concepts about life. We can see it here, but this is better captured in the bookSo those who do not like the movie try to read the book and those who liked the movie will definitely enjoy the book. As for me, stories of the resilience of Indian slum dwellers only make me more proud to be an Indian.

I appreciated the movie a lot. I also agree with MRP41082 ([email protected]) in that it is unfair to portray India in this light so often, and the brighter side should be projected just as much. But the magnitude of the issues shown in the movie, and the fact that they stand larger than all our achievements, belittle the strides we have made so far. Despite portraying the heinous life of a laborer in India and the atrocities flung on the poor, at a visual level, there is a message in the movie at a spiritual level - that no matter what we are, where we belong, we love the people we love, and we hope for our children, and that we have the power to do anything. I feel the movie goes a long way in showing that perhaps the people there are dying of hunger, are shut in darkness for lack of exposure, yet they could rise and shine! I'd say, it almost puts us Indians on a pedestal.