The Pool - Starlight Cinema, Stouffville

Details:
For his first narrative feature, Chris Smith, the Milwaukee-based filmmaker known for the offbeat documentaries American Movie, Home Movie and The Yes Men, gives us a film that quietly evokes life on the margins. Funny, warm and entirely unaffected, The Pool is a simple and honest story about young people who discover that the world is a larger place than they could ever have imagined.

Set in simmering Panjim, the capital of the Indian state of Goa, The Pool follows the poor, illiterate teenager Venkatesh (Venkatesh Chavan) as he scrapes together a meagre existence through odd jobs, including working at the local hotel and collaborating with his much younger pal Jhangir (Jhangir Badshah) on a side business selling plastic bags. Together, they dream of the luxurious life represented by a swimming pool they spot hidden behind a villa’s walls overlooking the city.

One day, the pool’s owner (Bollywood star Nana Patekar, Salaam Bombay) spots Venkatesh and hires him as his yard boy. Venkatesh accepts the job in order to get closer to the coveted pool, but he soon develops a cross-caste friendship with the owner’s rebellious daughter Ayesha (Ayesha Mohan), a member of India’s leisure class. The premise sets up a stark contrast in class, but Smith avoids polemics in favour of a gently observed, humanist character study that looks beyond such distinctions without entirely transcending them.

Director: Chris Smith
Cast: Jhangir Badshah, Venkatesh Chavan
Year: 2007
Runtime: 98 minutes
Country: USA
Language: Hindi, English
Distributor: KinoSmith

City: Stouffville, Ontario
Circuit Group Name: Starlight Cinema
Circuit Start-up: 2009
Contact: Kate Gilderdale
Phone: 905.642.5560
Email: gildedale@rogers.com
Screens: 19:00:00, Lebovic Centre for the Arts and Entertainment