THE WHEELS OF LIFE JUST KEEP TURNING.Byline: - Glenn Whipp It's not surprising that Ramin Ramin (Gonystylus) is a genus of about 30 species of hardwood trees native to southeast Asia, in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, with the highest species diversity on Borneo. Bahrani's heartbreaking first feature, ``Man Push Cart,'' was partly inspired by Albert Camus' ``The Myth of Sisyphus.'' The image that Bahrani returns to time and time again is that of Pakistani immigrant Ahmad pushing his version of Sisyphus' boulder -- a heavy, stainless-steel food-vendor pushcart -- through the darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. streets of Manhattan to a Midtown mid·town n. A central portion of a city, between uptown and downtown. midtown Noun US & Canad the centre of a town corner, where he'll spend the day selling bagels and coffee to time-starved office workers. Day in, day out When Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) finishes, he drags the pushcart back to its warehouse, carries its propane tank back to his dingy dingy used as a description of fleece wool; the wool is lacking in brightness. Brooklyn apartment, catches a few winks and then goes through the whole grinding process again. And again. And again. The specifics of why Ahmad does this both transcend and adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. the immigrant experience. Bahrani doles out details sparingly. And he heaps on the tragedy a bit thick. In addition to an unstable family life, it turns out Ahmad was something of a rock star in Pakistan. So why does he have to sell bagels -- not to mention porn DVDs on the side -- to eke out eke out Verb [eking, eked] 1. to make (a supply) last for a long time by using as little as possible 2. an existence? It's a question never completely answered, but that hardly diminishes this profoundly humanistic portrait of a man working hard to transcend despair and the seeming futility of his life. First-time actor Razvi, apparently once a pushcart vendor himself, takes you deep into Ahmad's broken soul. Bahrani's camera often lingers on Razvi's haunted eyes and frequently juxtaposes the man against the Manhattan skyline, crushed against the weight of the city and the absurdity of existence. Camus would have been proud. MAN PUSH CART - Three stars (Not rated: language) Starring: Ahmad Razvi. Director: Ramin Bahrani. Running time: 1 hr. 27 min. Playing: Laemmle's Fallbrook 7 in West Hills; Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. . In a nutshell: Profoundly humanistic portrait of a man pushing against the absurdity of his existence. |
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