City of Joy (1992 film)

City of Joy (released in the Philippines as Raging Inferno) is a 1992 drama film directed by Roland Joffé, with a screenplay by Mark Medoff. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Dominique Lapierre, which looks at poverty in then-modern India, specifically life in the slums. The film stars Patrick Swayze, Pauline Collins, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi.

City of Joy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoland Joffé
Screenplay byMark Medoff
Based onCity of Joy
by Dominique Lapierre
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPeter Biziou
Edited byGerry Hambling
Music byEnnio Morricone
Production
companies
Distributed byAMLF (France)
Warner Bros. (United Kingdom)
Release date
  • 15 April 1992 (1992-04-15)
Running time
134 minutes
CountriesFrance
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27 million[1]
Box office$14.6 million

Plot

Hazari Pal is a rural farmer who moves to Calcutta with his wife Kamla and three children in search of a better life. The Pals do not get off to a good start: they are cheated out of their rent money and thrown out on the streets, and it is difficult for Hazari to find a job to support them. However, the determined family refuses to give up and eventually finds its place in the poverty-stricken city.

Meanwhile, at the other end of Calcutta, Max Lowe, a Houston surgeon distraught after the loss of a young patient, has arrived in search of spiritual enlightenment. However, he encounters misfortune as soon as he arrives. After being tricked by a young prostitute, he is roughed up by thugs and left bleeding in the street without his documents and valuable possessions.

Hazari comes to Max's aid and takes the injured doctor to the "City of Joy," a slum area populated with lepers and poor people that becomes the Pals' new home and the American's home-away-from-home. Max spends a lot of time in the neighborhood, but he does not want to become too involved with the residents because he is afraid of becoming emotionally attached to them. However, he is soon coaxed into helping his new-found friends by a strong-willed Irish woman, who runs the local clinic.

Eventually, Max begins to fit in with his fellow slum-dwellers and become more optimistic. There are many around him whose lives are much worse, but they look on each day with a hope that gives new strength to the depressed doctor.

Cast

Reception

City of Joy was released in France and the United Kingdom on 30 September and 2 October 1992 respectively; it was first released in the United States on 17 April 1992. In the Philippines, the film was released as Raging Inferno by First Films on 22 July 1993, with one local poster showing Swayze holding a gun.[2]

Box office

In contrast to some of Joffe's previous successes (The Killing Fields), the film was not a box office success, even on its modest budget;[3] According to the Internet Movie Database and Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $14.7 million in the United States.[4][5]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 17 critics.[6]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "City of Joy seems a little too "written," too conformed to the rituals of Hollywood screenplays. There's so much interesting stuff in the movie we are prepared to forgive that."[7]

See also

References
  1. "Impassioned Missions : Director Joffe's 'City of Joy' Faced Obstacles at Home, Abroad". Los Angeles Times. 16 April 1992.
  2. "The Biggest Surprise Movie of the Year Opens Today!". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 22 July 1993. p. 21. Widely-acclaimed as a totally-different kind of movie! It will touch your hearts and uplift your soul!!
  3. "No Easter Basket for Box Office : Movies: 'Basic Instinct' winds up in first place over the holiday weekend, but business so far this year is down about 9%". Los Angeles Times. 20 April 1992. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  4. "City of Joy (1992)". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). 17 April 1992. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  5. "City of Joy".
  6. "City of Joy (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  7. Ebert, Roger (1992). "City Of Joy movie review & film summary (1992)". Chicago Sun-Times.
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