A boy in abject poverty works in a hotel and becomes obsessed with a swimming pool in the opulent hills of Panjim, Goa, India. His life gets turned upside-down when he attempts to meet the mysterious family who lives at the house.
Reviews
One of those movies you come across when flicking through countless pages on the internet. You read the synopsis and you feel like it sounds mildly interesting. I would have loved for the movie to be in English cause sometimes I get a little tired of subtitles, but one way or another, I did enjoy it. It's one those ¨feels like reality¨ movies about a young man who wishes for a better life as he works selling plastic bags and as a member of staff in some cheap hotel. As he is out and about with a a friend who is also his ¨business partner¨, he discovers a luxury house where a man is cleaning up a big swimming pool. Our protagonist who comes from a very humble background, becomes fascinated and totally obsessed with it. He decides there and then that he will find a way to be invited into this villa. His obsession will lead to an unlikely and life-changing friendship
In this age of high tech and cgi abundance, it is a welcome treat to come across a film made with so much love. a film of beautiful observation, of much warmth and tenderness. never sloppy or sentimental but with true emotion. that it was made by an American in India with no knowledge of the language and indeed the culture is even more remarkable. chris smith whose background has been three great documentaries brings back humanist cinema, whether he has seen the films of satyajit ray or not, he reflects that man's ability to show people at the bottom of the ladder with real dignity and intelligence. the pool will draw you in and immerse into this world and leave you feeling nourished with the truth of humanity. there is considerable humour and pathos from the two young amateur leads with a natural chemistry between them and the professional actors. one thousand times better than slumdog millionaire this truly says something about India
This is a very slow-paced film which I rather liked. It takes place in India in the town of Goa and is centred around the friendship between 3 adolescent children – 2 boys and a girl. One of the boys also be-friends a man (he is the father of the female character) who owns the pool – where the film title is taken from. The film has a decidedly non-North American perspective. There are no histrionics and the relationship between the different people is very authentic.It is character driven and the plot is kind of minimal, but there is a nice resolution at the end. It is kind of like "Slum Dog Millionaire" with lots of tranquilizers.
Well-respected documentarian Chris Smith proves himself a master of narrative form with this incredibly subtle and moving Hindi-language drama, shot in India. Along with Elite Squad, Edge of Heaven, Reprise, and Let the Right One In, "The Pool" is easily one of the best films of the year.As a New York-based Indian-American filmmaker who grew up in Wisconsin and has shot fiction films in India, I was nonetheless skeptical about a Wisconsin-based documentarian, even one of Smith's stature, working from a Midwestern-set fictional short story reset in India. Western filmmakers tend to miss the subtleties that make India unique and exciting, choosing instead to exoticize India's most superficial differences, condemn its shortcomings, or talk vaguely about its 'contradictions' (when they mean "contrasts," revealing their ignorance of the same contrasts in any big city).Smith doesn't fall into any of these pitfalls, and has created a work of lasting honesty and beauty. Watching it, it's hard to believe Smith is not only not Indian, but does not speak Hindi. I have been recommending the film to everyone I know, even more so on second viewing (at the South Asian International Film Festival, where it won top honors), once I could worry less about what was going to happen next and focus more on the incredibly nuanced script and acting, lush sound design, delightful score, and masterful framing and camera movement."The Pool" has the lyricism and humanism of Satyajit Ray, the simple strength and beauty of the great Italian neo-realists, and a great documentarian's eye for telling detail and feeling of captured reality.I hope the film wins some year-end nominations and awards, followed by a wider re-release, because everyone who loves great cinema deserves to see "The Pool."