Have you ever wondered about the man in the coffee cart on the corner? What is his immigrant story? Why has he traveled here and where is he going?
Man Push Cart is a very interior docudrama that follows Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi), a former rock star and Pakistani immigrant who works his coffee cart in downtown Manhattan.
There’s an anonymity about Ahmad. He’s a polite man of few words. One day a Pakistani businessman Mohammad (Charles Daniel Sandoval), also from Lahore, befriends him. Ahmad tells him to keep the change.
Ahmad carries sorrow quietly. Only glimpses of his past are shown: a wife, a baby. Now he toils from before dawn until well into the night (when he sells porno movies to other street vendors). He dreams of a big apartment so he may reclaim his son Sajjad from a hostile mother-in-law. She blames Ahmad for his own wife’s death.
There’s time to think as he prepares for the morning rush hour, stacking cups for tea and arranging fresh bagels. Each interaction is brief but complete, a fleeting spark of human connection within a frenetic day. Many are newcomers. Others are his regulars.
The film has a noir quality as Ahmad often moves in darkness. At times we cannot see him, but we hear his empty propane tank echoing. During the day he walks nameless and faceless before opulent shop windows and skyscrapers. Director Ramin Bahrani uses non-actors to achieve pure, direct feeling.
Evidently Ahmad is saving every penny. Others have their carts towed to and from the warehouse. Ahmad pushes and pulls the cart himself, a sometimes agonizing process amidst drenching rain, pedestrians and traffic. The myth of Sisyphus reputedly influenced Bahrani here. In Greek mythology, that former king was forever doomed to push a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down.
The question of identity past and present haunts Man Push Cart. Ahmad’s visit to Mohammad’s new apartment highlights the mixed experiences of American newcomers. In the land of the free, not everyone prospers.
As Ahmad’s new life slowly take shape, he befriends Noemi (Leticia Dolera), a news cart vendor. She was a translator in Barcelona. She is surprised to hear of Ahmad’s famous past. He never told her.
Even the patronage of well-to-do Mohammad barely stirs Ahmad's desire to sing again. His definition of success is self-styled. His penance, his act of contrition, his new life all revolve around the cart.
Bahrani (Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) lingers on deeply affecting scenes with only rare instrumentals.
Trust is a precious commodity. Mohammad’s ideas no longer stir the former rock star. On a bleak street, Ahmad meets another immigrant and signs a contract he does not understand. The man takes his down payment on the cart, advising him to insure it.
If you like Man Push Cart, you might enjoy: Goodbye Solo; Welcome; The Wind Journeys.
Man Push Cart 2005 / NR / 1 hour, 28 min
Cast Overview: Ahmad Razvi, Leticia Dolera, Charles Daniel Sandoval, Ali Reza, Panicker Upendran, Arun Lal, Razia Mujahid, Hassan Razvi, Mustafa Razvi
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Genres: Drama, Docudrama, Indie
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