Man Push Cart

Reaching out with meaning far beyond its melancholy central story, this is an excellent film. It is, in simple terms, the tale of Ahmed, former rock star from Pakistan who finds himself, by way of domestic misfortune, pushing his coffee-and-donuts cart through the streets of NYC to make a living. Opportunities to escape his lonely lot come his way. Will he/won't he take them? But it's more than that: it's a story of the gulf between rich and poor; of the sensitive and the brutish; the pecking order of immigrants in the so-called Melting Pot; and of course the position in particular of Muslim immigrants post 9/11. In the end, Ahmed's cart becomes a symbol of the burdens that we give ourselves, that we don't know how to let go of, even when the chance comes to do so. It's beautifully photographed, superbly acted. A true independent.

Man Push Cart (2006) ****

One of the brightest stars who's shine is hidden behind the influx of barely inspired and boldly formulaic audience friendly indie pleasers, Ramin Bahrani made his big leap with this 2006 near masterpiece. Man Push Cart is a stripped bare expose of the life of a push cart worker, trying to get by so that he can continue to try and get by.

Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) was a former rockstar in his native Pakistan, but left that life behind to come to America with his wife and child. His family did not approve of him, and so they left their lives behind. In New York, he pulls his heavy cart through the predawn traffic, not noticed by the passing cars unless he is in their way. He has his regular customers with whom he chats, and has his vendor friends, with whom he barters and trades porno dvds for cigarettes or whatever else. He makes friends with a well off fellow Pakistani, Mohammad, who invites him to paint his apartment if he needs extra cash. Once there, Mohammad realizes why he has found Ahmad's face so familiar. He wants to set him up with another friend, who he says is connected in the industry. One day, his contact at a paper stand is replaced by a young Spanish woman. Ahmad is clearly attracted to her, and she to him. This is okay, as Ahmad confides in Mohammad that his wife died soon after their arrival. His son now lives with his mother's parents while Ahmad tries to save up the money to get an apartment for them. His cart is his lifeblood. His cart, for now, is his life.

This interferes with his personal life. His wife's death has left him scarred, and although we're not told, we infer that Noemi and Mohammad are the only friends he has had since coming to this strange new city. Mohammad gets him a job working in a club, one which he leaves midshift so he can get back to his cart, to push and pull it into the downtown core. His inability to communicate his feelings to Noemi leaves her open to Mohammad, who also likes her. It's nonetheless clear that she wants Ahmad. But his life has no space for love right now - only pushing and pulling, selling and bartering. Trying to get by, so he can continue to get by.

Bahrani, an Iranian raised in America, directs the film as minimally as possible. Man Push Cart is Bicycle Thieves redux - not that it is as good a film as that great one, of course, but simply in the same vein. It's akin to a French Minimalist Italian Neorealist made in America by an Iranian starring a Pakistani. The camera moves and cuts only when it must. Bahrani relies on the quiet resonance of his story and the muted power of his actors to tell it. As much a lover of bold direction as I am, understated direction is often the wisest, and even the boldest, choice a filmmaker can take.

Man Push Cart is a slow and bittersweet film - often more bitter than sweet. But in the end, instead of being broken, Ahmad finds a spark of hope in his surroundings. He will have taken a tumble, but he has the perseverance to struggle on, not for his own sake, but for the sake of a better day to come. Then he will have time to love, to laugh. But for now, he will keep trying to get by today, so he can try to get by tomorrow, and someday get where he needs to be

Accurate moviewatching can give you such strong pleasure that, if rightly chosen, the selected film can feed your mind for weeks.

On the other hand, if your choice fails, even thoroughly prepared by selecting critics and seeing previews, the frustration is so high that your first thought is never again a moviewatching, and how can the producer be punished!!

Well, none of this will happen seeeing "Man push Cart"! You are immediately seized by the deeply melancolic poetry of New Yorks' dark street through the night. You strongly feel the solitude and the constant sweetness of the hero, who seems totally submitted to fate whenever it hits him. Is it weakness , or is he very wise? The film, without naming them, speaks of all our present troubles: loss of social, religious and emotional identity> you will carry its delicate atmosphere and all the questions aroused for a long time.

Moving with a slow even rhythm, this film portrays a man's struggle to get by as an immigrant to the U.S. from Pakistan. His life centers on his work as a street vendor who must pull his cart to a New York city street corner every morning and sell coffee and such to the busy urban customers. The cart, like his troubles in life are quite allot for him to keep under control as he makes his way through the crowded NYC landscape. What makes the film work so well is the overall atmosphere and style in which it was shot. Ahmad is a reticent soul and much is expressed in his eyes and demeanor, his world is urban and dark, the vast majority of this film is at night and Ahmad seems to be living in a nighttime existence. There's a feeling of confinement and being trapped as well. Even when Ahmed loses his cart it seems there is no place to go to look for it. The relationship that develops with a woman that he meets who also works as a street vendor is tentative and cautionary in its process but also intriguing and sensual. The film is non manipulative and non judgmental, it's an outsider's gaze into one man's lonely isolated existence far from his past and former self.

Man Push Cart is a gem of independent film making. It is a beautiful, haunting portrayal of one man's life in an alien city. A thriving metropolis like New York is home to a myriad of stories. In the course of our daily lives, we only scratch the surfaces of many of these. This film delves deeper into one of them - the story of Ahmad, an immigrant bagel cart worker. There is some optimism, but equally, much disappointment. Moments of happiness, and many of sadness. Hollywood demands that the hero gets the girl, achieves success, and all is resolved in a "happy ending". This film is unashamedly and refreshingly un-Hollywood, and Ahmad's ultimate fulfilment is by no means guaranteed. Nevertheless, like Sisyphus, he will persevere. When the cameras stop rolling, and we leave the cinema, he will continue. It is this, together with superb lead actor Ahmad Razvi's own personal experiences as a push cart vendor, that make this film so convincing and compelling.

This is a film that stays with you. For those of us who live in large cities, this film is a moving insight into the world that goes on all around us, a world that we skim past every day and quickly forget. Man Push Cart is a sympathetic, but not sentimental, snapshot of this world, and one that is well worth experiencing.