Cheap City of Joy (Video) (Patrick Swayze, Pauline Collins) (Roland Joffé) Price

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Customer Reviews of City of Joy

Pretty Good
There are parts in this movie that are kind of cheesy, but for the most part, it is a very nice story about the life of a poor family in a Kolkata slum and of an American doctor's attempts to "find himself" by giving something back to the world instead of always being wrapped up in himself. Swayze's character is kind of annoying, especially at the start of the film, and certain lines seem kind of trite and silly . . . saying that he came to India for "enlightenment" was kind of daft and predictable, and of course, the meolodrama with regards to Swayze's character I think was a bit much . . . I don't think you need to have a special reason or event that occurs in your life to make you question things or look for answers to some of life's problems . . . still, the movie did a good job of presenting the inhabitants of Kolkata with dignity and sympathy . . . they were fully human and not caricatures, which was good. Om Puri does an outstanding job here. I wish that Shabana Azmi, an excellent actress herself, would have been given a bigegr role instead of playing the typically quiet and meek India wife, though. The brutality anmd dehumanisation of living in a slum in an overpopulated city was not sugar-coated either, but at the same time many of the people in the slums were portrayed with respect, and their attitude does give a substantial glimemr of hope instead of implying that all humans are "out for themselves" as the main character seems to think. Not a masterpiece, but a nice film all the same.

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A Good Film
Of course no Patrick Swayze film could ever compare with a wonderful book, still City of Joy has much to offer. I grew up in a city just out of Calcutta and found the movie to be very true to the culture and everyday life I experienced there. Poverty is difficult to portray from a developed country's point of view without becoming self-righteous, but nowhere in the movie do the foreigners propose to change the state of the city. The two characters(Patrick Swayze and Pauline Collins) are there because they want to be and to lend a hand when needed. The cast of Indian characters(Um Puri in particular)is especially good. All of the actors possess great human qualities that makes them easy to connect with and likable. Although these people live in squalor, they have a joie de vivre that keeps the tone from being one of despair. This film is simply a slice of life that doesn't try to prove anything. I highly recommend seeing the film AS WELL AS reading the book.

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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.