From: dea@vccnorthd.its.rpi.edu (Anirban De)
Subject: Re: City Of Joy ........... review
Keywords: movie   review
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 23:33:08 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.233252.6663@acsu.buffalo.edu> v999rkzd@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (V999RKZD.SIGNATURE) writes:
>
>
>One viewer's review.
>
>City of Joy
>^^^^ ^^ ^^^
>Patrick Swayze, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi.
>Based on the book by Dominique Lapiere.
>
>	Reaity, the Portrayal of.
>	Hope, the triumh of.
>
>	That is what this movie about life  in a Calcutta slum is about, 
>essentially. Plus the way an American Doctor from Houston gets charmed 
>into aiding a helpless society. While some who read the book felt that 
>the movie was a little different from it, others who would rather have
>the story served to them visually, in a 2.25 hours chunk found nothing amiss.
>
>	But for the first five mins or so, the entire movie has been shot
>in Calcutta, and is probably more real than what Indians (or Culcattans for
>that matter) can stomach. Cushioned by the thousands of miles that separates
>reality from us, and cocooned by Univ campuses, one is almost unwilling to
>let the movie puncture all that comfort. It is difficult to choose
>between Swayze and Puri as the films' hero. With  her composed manner 
>Shabana Azmi does a lot to add credibility to the movie's portrayal of
>a village wife adjusting to city life. The casting crew must have spent
>a good deal of time picking the actors for Hasari Lal's (Om Puri) children.
>
>	While the fact that even 80-year old Bihari villagers talk among
>themselves in fluent English is unsettling and even irks in the beginning,
>one gets used to it and it seems almost natural by the time the movie
>ends.
>	The reluctance of the city people, egged by the Godfather to accept
>and embrace lepers into their society is highlighted. Again, the casting
>of people residing in the leper colony is done well. The scene where the
>Doctor helps deliver a leprosy patients' child is 'too realistic', if 
>anything can be called that.
>
>	Women's libbers and others will definitely 
>be moved by the way his daughter's dowry preys on the hand-rickshaw puller
>Hasari's mind, and when they see him save rupee after hard-earned rupee just to 
>be able to meet the required dowry.
>
>	This movie is sure to do a lot of good for slums, at least by 
>forcing people to acknowledge ( and maybe even help) unluckier lives
> than theirs.
>
>	The movie has a lot of really interesting, and even funny scenes. To 
>take a huge and powerful plot such as this, and make it into a commercial
>film requires special talent. The crew of City Of Joy posseses that talent.
>The portrayal of the targeted segment of Indian populations' life come 
>through clearly.
>
>	And so does the portrayal of hope.
>
>Ramprasad T N.
>
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>   An Industrial Engineer, not an Industrious one.
> |\          ^^^                          ^^^
> | \               v999rkzd@ubvms.bitnet       Ram Prasad T N
> |__\              naras-r@ascu.buffalo.edu   
>----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>I hereby disclaim.                            Comments Welcome.



	As an interesting point, many scenes of City of Joy were not really shot in
Calcutta, and some were not even shot in India.

	In fact one of the most memorable pieces - the rain sequence towards the end
was shot in a set in England. I remember reading an illustrated account (in the bengali
weekly Desh) of how a set of a part of the slum was created with absolutely complete
details. Apparently the producers found it necessary to do a large part of their work
abroad owing to the unco-operation (or opposition) of the local authorities and also
because of lack of facilities.

	One minor correction to Ramprasad's excellent review - the doctor was from Dallas,
not Houston.

	The film makers definitely deserve credit for superb casting, and also for 
maintaining a balance in the story. It is not easy to tell a story like this without
seriously offending many people. Also I should add the name of Pauline Collins (who
played the role of Joan) for superb acting. 

Anirban (dea@rpi.edu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian