CITY OF JOY
A film review by Frank Maloney
Copyright 1992 Frank Maloney
CITY OF JOY is a film directed by Roland Joffe and written by Mark Medoff, from a book by Dominique Lapierre. It stars Patrick Swayze, Pauline Collins, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, and Art Malik. It is rated PG-13 for violence, mature themes, mild profanity.
CITY OF JOY is an earnest, well-intended film meant to praise those who struggle against the odds. Joffe is a kind of British Oliver Stone in his heavy-handedness and self-righteousness, but he is the director who brought us THE KILLING FIELDS, THE MISSION, and FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY. He is not afraid of movies about ideas that he believes in. Unfortunately, he is afraid of letting us think for ourselves.
The script is freely adapted from Dominique Lapierre's 1985 best-seller. Mark Medoff and Joffe have converted the Polish priest laboring in the slums of Calcutta to an Irish nurse, played charmingly by Pauline Collins. The American doctor Max Lowe, an minor character in the novel, has become the focus of the movie to accommodate the star appeal of Patrick Swayze. Further Hollywoodization comes in the form of elaborate monsoons, rioting and fire bombs, and melodramatic and sadistic heavies, especially the character by Art Malik. Joffe is constantly moving in the direction of epic, while the story strains to pull back to the intimate concerns of the poor ricksha pullers, their families, the lepers, and the others living on the bottom level of this amazing city. One cannot help but compare this glossy package with the gritty, wise, and wonderful SALAAM BOMBAY, produced at a fraction of the cost of this film and at many times the insight and power.
This is not to say that CITY OF JOY is a contemptible film, merely a specimen case of how even a well-intentioned big-budget film can lose sight of what is important. It is a problematic production, in any case. The first problem being the presence of Patrick Swayze, who is said to have gone to great lengths to secure the part of Dr. Max. At best, we would have to conclude that Swayze is working here on the extreme outer limit of his skills as an actor. Angst barely eludes him, although petulance does appear to be within his grasp. The mere presence of a Western man in this third-world story sets off alarums; certainly, Joffe's MISSION suffered from the white-messiah syndrome, as have most movies about apartheid in the last several years (although you might look around for an black, South African film MAPANTSULA that was circulating two years ago). To be fair, Joffe and Medoff seem somewhat aware of this and ensure that Swayze never wins a fight and that his life is saved by an Indian. Still he does tend to lecture the Indians about standing up to the Godfather who rules their lives.
The real satisfaction of this film comes from the excellent Indian actors, especially Om Puri as the man whose life Swayze keeps interfering in; Puri is nervous, weak, brave, hesitant, rash; he's no Hollywood beauty, with his pock-marked nose, but he's a beautiful performer. Puri's character, Hasari, is the heart and soul of CITY OF JOY, and with the contributions of Shabana Azmi who plays his wife, embodies the nobility and dignity that Joffe would like to reduce to manipulative sentimentality.
Other strengths come in the cinematography of Peter Biziou and the graceful music of Ennio Morricone, which together give CITY OF JOY much of its power and appeal.
I can recommend this movie, but go to a cheap matinee.
-- Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney .
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