TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Howard Schumann Going for a swim in a swimming pool is an everyday occurrence for most young people. For eighteen-year old Venkatesh (Venkatesh Chavan), however, it represents a life of privilege to which he has no hopes of attaining. Poor and illiterate, Venkatesh is a tall, wiry young man who works as a roomboy making beds, cleaning rooms, and scrubbing toilets in a hotel in Panjim in the Indian State of Goa, a former Portuguese colony. His spare time is taken up, not with cricket matches or sailing, but with selling plastic bags on the streets with his eleven-year-old friend Jhangir (Jhangir Badshah) who has no parents and also cannot read or write. Based on co-screenwriter Randy Russell's short story set in Iowa City, Iowa and transported to India by director Chris Smith, The Pool is thoroughly without condescension or efforting at multicultural "sensitivity".Reminiscent of the realism of the Italian masters and the quiet humanism of Satyajit Ray, Smith, a filmmaker from Milwaukee, best known for his 1999 documentary American Movie, uses mainly non-professional actors to tell a simple story about real people simply engaged in life. Many of the stories are taken directly from the boys' life and Smith wisely avoids imposing his preconceived notions of how life is there for them. That sense of balance and proportion is what gives The Pool a special resonance. Spoken in Hindi (a language Smith does not speak) with English subtitles, The Pool is rich in detail and feels completely natural, as if it is unfolding right before our eyes with the camera merely following the characters around to see what will happen next.On one of his walks into the more affluent suburbs, Venkatesh climbs a hillside and sees a swimming pool in the backyard of a neighbor's villa and becomes obsessed with the idea of swimming in it. What especially interests him is the fact that no one ever seems to swim in it which he longs to do. Climbing onto a mango tree near the property to get a better view, Venkatesh thinks of different ways of getting into the pool and shrugs off Jahangir who tells him "The closest you're going to get to that pool is cleaning it." Venkatesh, however, makes friends with the residents of the villa – an almost silent upper class man from Mumbai (Nana Patekar) who offers him work in their garden. Soon he becomes interested in the man's snooty daughter Ayesha (Ayesha Mohan), whose urban sophistication would make her at home in New York or Chicago.While the social and economic divide is too much to give Venkatesh much of a chance with Ayesha, they nevertheless develop a charming friendship and go on boat rides with Jahangir and visit an abandoned fort. When the three are just relaxing and being together, they are just kids enjoying themselves and there is no consciousness of class. The gap between them surfaces, however, when Ayesha refuses his offering of a cup of chai or some papadums at a vendor's stand. When the two boys bicker at the fort, Ayesha sullenly calls them children and stomps off. Eventually, Venkatesh is hired as a gardener by the owner who takes a paternal interest in him, leading to a surprising life altering choice and a new understanding of the world.

kris-murthy "The Pool" is an excellent, slow paced, moving and an uplifting story of an impoverished teenager whose life changes from having an obsession with a swimming pool. I can easily say that the story being slow paced added an extra charm to the movie. The main actor, Venkatesh, could improve his camera presence a little. Nana Patekar(father), Ayesha (daughter) and Jhangir (friend) were spotless. I am not writing a spoiler content here, and would like to recommend this movie to everyone, not just for the ones who loves independent movies.To you Netflix, when did low budget movies become documentaries? I like documentaries, and surprisingly Netflix recommended this movie to me. I am glad they did! :-)

Mike B 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.

reedsligar I watched "The Pool" today, because I didn't have anything better to do. I was expecting it to be boring, but I was pleasantly surprised. The premise of the film is a lower class Indian boy who becomes obsessed with a pool. He offers to work for the family who lives there in order to swim in it without being a thief. As much as that sounds like a non-existing storyline, it really isn't. The characters develop throughout the film and you can really relate to them. I found the film quite entertaining and uplifting, even though the subject matter is depressing. The depiction of lower class India was perfect, you will now thank God that you don't have to scrub bathroom floors. The ending is incredibly touching, and it made me thankful that I can go to school. I highly recommend this film. - Reed S.