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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = City of Joy
| image = City of Joy (movie poster).jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Roland Joffé]]
| producer = [[Jake Eberts]]<br>Roland Joffé
| screenplay = [[Mark Medoff]]
| based_on = {{based on|''[[City of Joy]]''|[[Dominique Lapierre]]}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Patrick Swayze]]
* [[Pauline Collins]]
* [[Om Puri]]
* [[Shabana Azmi]]
* [[Art Malik]]
}}
| music = [[Ennio Morricone]]
| cinematography = [[Peter Biziou]]
| studio = Lightmotive<br />[[Allied Filmmakers]]
| editing = [[Gerry Hambling]]
| distributor = [[Pathé|AMLF]] (France)<br />[[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]] (United Kingdom)
| released = {{Film date|1992|04|15|df=y}}
| country = France <br />United Kingdom
| runtime = 132 minutes
| language = English
| budget = $27 million<ref>https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-16-ca-759-story.html</ref>
| gross = $14.6 million
}}
'''''City of Joy''''' is a 1992 [[drama film]] directed by [[Roland Joffé]], with a screenplay by [[Mark Medoff]]. It is based upon the [[City of Joy|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]].

==Plot==
{{More plot|date=June 2015}}
Hazari Pal ([[Om Puri]]) is a rural farmer who moves to [[Calcutta]] with his wife Kamla ([[Shabana Azmi]]) 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's difficult for Hazari to find a job to support them. But the determined family refuses to give up and eventually finds its place in the poverty-stricken city.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Calcutta, Max Lowe ([[Patrick Swayze]]), 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 which 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. He soon, however, is coaxed into helping his new-found friends by a strong-willed Irish woman ([[Pauline Collins]]), 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==
{{castlist|
* [[Patrick Swayze]] as Max Lowe
* [[Om Puri]] as Hazari Pal
* [[Pauline Collins]] as Joan Bethel
* [[Vishal Slathia]] as Joey Barton
* [[Shabana Azmi]] as Kamla H. Pal
* [[Anashua Majumdar]] as Selima
* [[Ayesha Dharker]] as Amrita H. Pal
* Santu Chowdhury as Shambu H. Pal
* Imran Badsah Khan as Manooj H. Pal
* [[Shyamanand Jalan]] as Mr. Ghatak, the godfather
* [[Anjan Dutt]] as Dr Sunil
* [[Art Malik]] as Ashok Ghatak
* [[Nabil Shaban]] as Anouar
* Sanjay Pathak as Shoba
* Debatosh Ghosh as Ram Chande
* [[Sunita Sengupta]] as Pormina
* [[Loveleen Mishra]] as Shanta
* [[Pavan Malhotra]] as Ashish
*[[Iftekhar]] as Hazari's father
* [[Chitra Sen]] as the angry woman
* Dipti Dave as a schoolgirl
}}

==Reception==
=== Box office ===
In contrast to some of Joffe's previous successes (''[[The Killing Fields (film)|The Killing Fields]]''), the film was not a box office success, even on its modest budget;<ref>{{cite news|title= 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%.|work= [[Los Angeles Times]]|url= https://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-20/entertainment/ca-349_1_basic-instinct|accessdate=2012-06-09}}</ref> According to [[the Internet Movie Database]] and [[Box Office Mojo]], the film grossed $14.7 million in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103976/ |title=City of Joy (1992) |publisher=Internet Movie Database (IMDb) |accessdate=10 September 2012}}</ref><ref>https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cityofjoy.htm</ref>

=== Critical response ===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 17 critics.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Joy (1992) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_joy/ |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2020-10-01 }}</ref>

[[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."<ref>{{cite web |date=1992 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=City Of Joy movie review & film summary (1992) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/city-of-joy-1992 |website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] }} {{Rating|3|4}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[1992 in film]]
* [[List of drama films]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0103976|City of Joy}}
* [https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cityofjoy.htm ''City of Joy''] at [[Box Office Mojo]]

{{Roland Joffé}}

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:1992 drama films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:French films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Roland Joffé]]
[[Category:TriStar Pictures films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Films set in India]]
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ennio Morricone]]
[[Category:Films based on French novels]]
[[Category:Foreign films shot in India]]
[[Category:French drama films]]

City of Joy (1992 film) - Revision history

>LTPHarry at 23:03, 26 April 2021