Joyland

This depiction of Pakistan is patriarchal and misogynistic. The almost-70 patriach of the Rana clan rules, while the son of the neighboring widow tries to control his mother. Regardless of education or qualifications, women are supposed to be housewives and bearer of (preferably male) children.

Younger son Haider is in an unconventional arranged marriage. Wife Mumtaz works at a beauty salon, while he stays home and is uncle-parent to his nieces. Being belittled and harassed by his father for not working, he accepts a job suggested by a friend as a backup dancer - to Biba, a trans woman - while telling his family that the job is a theater manager. As someone who has never left his home city of Lahore, he falls in love with this more-worldly woman, and his late-night "work" has his wife suspicious.

By western standards, the production values are erratic, and I may have missed some minor plot points due to that. The acting is believable, and the depiction of life is good (I liked the scene in the "women's car" on mass transit.) The film is daring in the subject matter of trans folk and non-traditional sexuality. I saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival, where in the Q+A the director admitted difficulty in casting Haider, when some actors turned down the role after learning of the story. The title, incidentally, refers not just to the amusement park that plays a minor role, but also to people trying to find their place of happiness.

I guess people have forgotten the difference between the meanings of "promotion" and "depiction". For those who really don't know what these words mean: promotion means to encourage, to support something. And depiction means to show something, to make people aware of something by showing it to them.

Now, Joyland, nowhere in its 126 minutes run supports or encourages or "promotes" homosexuality or anything that is anti-Islamic. In fact, this isn't even the only theme of the film. It covers pretty much every aspect of the domestic life of a lower middle-class Pakistani man and a woman (I didn't mention transgender person because those poor things have only one class of lifestyle). It shows every harsh reality of our society. It shows all the plagues our country is being devoured by, those which aren't remotely related to Islam but have become a part of our tradition despite being highly toxic. These are the stigmas that we suffer from in our lives but no one wants to get rid of them because they have been here for so long that they have become normal. And a life without them would be abnormal or even disgraceful and shameful according to our "elders".

The film does show the homosexuality that exists in our country. It doesn't tell whether its good or bad, it just shows it. The only thing that could be a negative point in my opinion would be the graphic scenes. They weren't really that necessary.

In the end, I would say that Joyland is probably the best film that's come out of Pakistani industry in a long time. We need to support such films and accept the existence of all the brutalities of the society they make us aware about. And lastly, try to do something about them.

The fact that I got to watch this in a Pakistani cinema feels really great.

Joyland is a movie told in moments and every scene still has me in a chokehold. I was sobbing by the end and for me, if a movie can move you to tears then its a great one!

It will also make you very uncomfortable and it should because what we see on the screen is a reality of every women and every trans person. This is our life on screen and its a mirror to our society.

The cast was stellar and I truly hope that Pakistanis continue to make movies that tells a real story. I am also so freaking proud that we didn't let the bigots win this time.

Wiping away sexual taboos in countries where the culture's tolerance for such things is, shall we say, somewhat "limited" can indeed be a slow, painful and difficult process. Such conditions are presented with remarkable candor on a number of fronts in this groundbreaking debut feature from Pakistani writer-director Saim Sadiq, who unflinchingly depicts the frustration that many are feeling in a nation yearning for greater social acceptance and personal freedom when it comes to alternate lifestyles. And this work is certainly commendable for the bold, courageous steps it has taken in this regard. However, these ideas are far from anything new in the world of cinema, and, as I watched this film, I couldn't help but think that the praise that has been heaped on it is somewhat hyped, primarily because of the venue in which the story is set. Don't get me wrong - this is a well-made picture, and I would imagine that the impact it has had on its country of origin is substantial, but I don't believe it's quite on par with the sweeping accolades that have been showered upon it. (Its victory at the Independent Spirit Awards for Best International Film, for example, was an overstatement in my book compared to some of the other nominees.) As a first feature for the filmmaker, it's a fine work that shows a great deal of promise for its creator, who clearly possesses an abundance of talent that I can't wait to see further developed. But there are elements of his craft that could use some further refinement to elevate him to the level of the big leagues (case in point, a conclusion that has been done several times before and almost comes across as trite here). "Joyland" certainly makes a powerful statement that needs to be said (and acted upon), and it does so in a highly capable way, but aspects of it could have been improved upon to make this a truly great film worthy of the honors that have been bestowed upon it.

This movie is getting hate for no reason. It's a flawless family drama! The Acting is superb and the cinematography is mesmerizing. People claiming that the acting is bad, might be blind. The narrative is so interesting that the run time felt short to me. 2 hours passed by pretty quickly. This movie is made for proper movie watchers, not some casuals. Cinematic literacy is needed here. Don't go to it thinking that you'll get a cliche masala movie. Make sure you watch it If you enjoy good acting, cinematography and a well written narrative. I'd say it's the best Pakistani movie ever made. P. S i haven't seen maula Jutt yet.