I love this movie so much

Really Surprised!

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Man Push Cart has glimpses of that weary, working class struggle that great works from the Italian neorealists or the British kitchen sink realists provided a window to. The cinematographer's style is plain and unadorned; it does not place extra weight or emphasis on any particular shot, but simply observes a man and his method of survival in the greatest and busiest city on earth. The film's title quite literally describes his daily toil; more than once we are presented with Ahmad's task of dragging his breakfast cart through the streets, filmed in mid shot from in front so that he appears to have no apparent destination (here and there are subtle existentialist tones). Such moments are seldom seen in more consumerist-driven, Hollywood cinema - it's simply wasted space, screen time with no apparent purpose, tedious for the audience to sit through. So it must simulate what Ahmad shoulders each morning and each evening too, tedious, back-breaking work for what seems to be very little reward. Ahmad Razvi is Ahmad, in a worn out, laconic performance that hints at his tragic past. He used to be a rock star in Pakistan, he used to have a wife, he used to be able to see and kiss and hold his son every day. Those are now all gone. Razvi channels his portrayal through the physicalities of his traumas and burdens, crafting an entire weary worldview in his slow trudge through the streets of New York, grappling with the handle of his cart. He speaks only the bare minimum required of him, not because he has been silenced, but because the world has forgotten about him, and to voice this would nothing to change the situation. So he pushes his cart. His backstory demands more meat on the bone than what director Ramin Bahrani offers. In a De Sica-like gut-punch near the end of the film, Ahmad's entire world comes crashing down as he discovers that his cart has been stolen, and races from street to street, frantically searching for the tool that provides his livelihood. There is additional desperation in that the money lost would have gone to finally finding a home where he could be with his son. Yet the boy is ultimately little more than window dressing in the overall narrative, a wisp of a character to boost his motivations. It is a testament to Bicycle Thieves that the act of losing a bicycle could bare a character's soul so nakedly, drive decent men to do desperate things in order to survive. The boy sees what his father has become. Their relationship has been damaged irreparably. But in Ahmad's pleas, his son barely registers a second thought, and the same occurs in the audience's minds. There is also the curious and frustrating romance subplot that Ahmad dabbles in but eventually rejects. He finds his equal in Noemi, who runs a mobile news agency on the same cold streets. But she represents a cutesy ideal at odds with the film's aesthetic, skipping from scene to scene with a waifish frame but round, shining saucers for eyes. Her intentions are oddly upfront; she flashes desire in her every look towards Ahmad, hoping he might take that courageous leap, grab his redemption and swing it around in his arms, planting kisses all over. She is a fairly obvious and frequent character in these films, pretty little things designed to lift up and stroke the egos of crestfallen male protagonists. Resigned to losing his cart, Ahmad's one final plea is to his businessman friend for a loan of $5000. The friend refuses, instead spitting Ahmad's failures and lack of commitment back at him. He snaps - he strikes his friend, then scurries away in shame of what he has done. The moment could have been the film's Bicycle Thieves climax, where Antonio Ricci discards his dignity and decides to steal what has been stolen from him to make a living for his family. But the slap rings hollow. A better film would allow us to understand the emotion behind the hit; how he has lost his chance to be with his son, how he has rejected the only one who cares for him, how he has been stripped of the one possession that he could call his in these troubled times. He has lost everything in that one slap, so why does it not resonate louder?

Every night, before New York City wakens, Ahmad pushes his coffee and donut cart to it's usual spot on the street corner. As the movie moves along, we find out that Ahmad was a bit of a rock star in Pakistan. His wife is dead and his in-laws won't let him see his son. Did Ahmad come to America to pursue a relationship with his son? The answer is never clear. He meets a pretty vendor up the street but can't bring himself to have a relationship with her. It is slow moving but in a good way as I would describe it as a "slice of life" kind of movie. The actual making of the movie involved using a concealed camera for a lot of shots including a scene where Ahmad sells bootlegged porn DVD's to two guys. These two guys were not actors and didn't even know they were going to be in the movie. It was shot in less than three weeks on a small budget. This is a pretty decent film for it's atmosphere and character development but is clearly not for everybody. A true example of low budget guerrilla film-making.

Watching a movie without a real plot can be difficult for me sometimes, but not with "Man Push Cart". I think this film is an art. It gives us a chance to look closer into a life of a seller on the street, to absorb his experience, and feel his deep loneliness.I don't know how the director did it, but these small details of a man's life: daily conversations with customers, pulling a heavy cart alone on the street of a big city, taking a kitten home and trying to keep her in a little box, etc. can communicate so much. Ahmad's deeply sad eyes and humble personality make me feel sorry for him, especially when you see him broken-heart because of love and friendship found and lost. The character is so real. I feel like I get a chance to know him. This movie doesn't have much of a plot but it does have a point and can inspire good things in the viewer. Some thoughts stay with me after the movie was over. Small greeting or simple kindness, even from strangers, can mean so much to a person. There are people living around us who have much more difficult life and if we can look a little closer and care a little more, this world can be a better place.After seeing Ahmad pushing his cart and living his life, I feel that the difficulty in my life is trivial comparing to many people on earth. After I finish watching the movie, I went back to my work without complaining how boring or tiring it was.

**SPOILERS ALERT**Man Push Cart is a heavy, slice-of-life look at a Pakastani immigrant's daily routine selling coffee, donuts and bagels from a cart in Manhattan. His wife died a year earlier, his in-laws have his son, and Ahmed has yet to rejoin life as he continues to mourn. Ahmed meets a series of people as well as a kitten who can pull him out of his dreary existence, but each of these are slowly pulled away from him as Ahmed chooses to remain in or cannot let go of the life he has carved out for himself in the last year. I can be satisfied with an unhappy ending if there is resolution in the film, but this one does not have it. If the back story of Ahmed's wife and why he had to leave Pakastan were explained, this movie would have been phenomenal. Unfortunately, this does not happen, and I was left feeling unsettled with numerous questions and just worn down by the painful existence of Ahmed without understanding why he lives the life he leads.