Man Push Cart

Buy This Item Man Push Cart by Koch Lorber Films  Available from Amazon  $24.99  on 10-31-2008     Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a former rock star in his native Pakistan, drags his heavy cart along the streets of New York. And every morning, he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. One day, the pattern of this harsh existence is broken by a glimmer of hope for a better life. <P> DVD Extras: Commentary with director Ramin Bahrani, cinematographer Michael Simmonds, assistant director Nicholas Elliott and actor Ahmad Razvi Short Films by the director ("Bad Reception" with Lisa Bonet, "Dogs") Original Theatrical Trailer Reader Reviews "Man Push Cart" is a very sad movie, though not entirely bleak or depressing. It is the story of Ahmad, a Pakistani man who has immigrated to America and struggles to get ahead while working as a push-cart street vendor. Much of the movie is taken up with long, slow shots of his actual, physical struggle -- Ahmad is renting his cart and doesn't have enough money for a car, so he has to pull the cart across busy New York city streets in the pre-dawn hours, as traffic starts to pick up. Midday, when his coffee and bagels have been sold, he hauls the cart back to the garage, wanders around midtown Manhattan for a while, then takes the subway back to a tiny apart in the outer borroughs, where he briefly sleeps, only to get up at 3:00am and start his daily routine all over again. The film defies may expectations and cliches... To begin with, Ahmad didn't come to America to "get ahead": as we slowly learn a part of his history, we discover that he was once a popular musician in Pakistan, and that he emigrated here to follow the woman he loved. The story of their marriage and its end is Ahmad's great tragedy, but we are never given the whole story, only glimpses into the past, and the film also never explains Ahmad's reluctance to be a musician again. He never likes talking about it, and when his new acquaintances discover that he was once a famous performer, he simply demurs and avoids discussing it. Others sing in this film, but Ahmad does not. His reluctance talk about himself is explained obliquely -- in one scene, we see him hanging out with some friends, listening impassively as one man trots another in front of a crowd of barflies and insists that he "Tell your story! Tell your story!" For whatever reason, Ahmad doesn't want his life to be reduced to just another story that's told around the bar, as if cataloging his experience would reduce it to nothingness, or wrest control of his own story away from him. He already put himself on display, back in Pakistan, and now, here in America, he chooses to just live his life, not share it with strangers. Although "Man Push Cart" is a powerful, subtle depictation of the modern immigrant experience, it is also an important commentary on the current climate of "reality"-based media, where average people aspire to be seen on TV, and have their tiniest flaws projected across the landscape of popular culture. Ahmad, who once had actual fame, let go of it for love, and now finding himself at the bottom heap of society, chooses to stay there, anonymous and self-contained. He is not a happy man, but in a strange way, he seems contented. Apparently his character is being reprised in director Ramin Bahrani's next film, "Chop Shop." Whether more of Ahmad's past will be revealed is uncertain; in some ways, I hope it remains unknown. At any rate, this is a very good film, which you will find engrossing from start to finish. The parts of the story that are unresolved or unknown are actually its greatest strengths, and one of the elements that make this film so distinctive. Highly recommended! (Slipcue film reviews)

Man Push Cart Available from Amazon Price: $24.99 Updated on 10-31-2008.

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