Man Push Cart

And it's New York's loss, not his.

Saw this film this afternoon at Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival. The lead actor, Ahmad Razvi, is not a professional actor, but he holds his own very well. He told the audience after the screening that he had pushed a cart, briefly, but was self-employed when he was discovered by the director behind the counter of his own restaurant. However, in my opinion this is the director's, Ramin Bahrani, and cinematographer's, a guy named Simmons, film.

There is very little plot. It is about shining a light onto the life of one of the street vendors you can buy from in many of our larger cities, and never really think about. He has a story. Some people will be bored with it, but most of the more insightful audience members will never forget what they're so convincingly exposed to here.

This is Bahrani's first film, I believe, and it's certainly an indication of great things to come. He's taken the legend of Sisyphus in this his first outing and transformed it into something we can all relate to. And it's something we need to relate to given our current distrust of Muslims, ex-rock star or not. Somehow, though, I doubt that many working at Homeland Security are likely to see it.