7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Back in his home country of Pakistan, Ahmad was a famous rock star. Now a widower separated from his son and adrift in New York, he works long hours selling coffee and bagels from a midtown Manhattan food cart, engaged in a Sisyphean search for human connection and a sense of purpose that seems perpetually just out of reach.
Director: Ramin BahraniDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
If you’ve ever either lived in or simply just visited New York City, you probably know that one of the more enjoyable aspects of walking around various neighborhoods is the glut of street vendors, many of whom offer incredible ethnic food and drink. I haven’t been to Manhattan since a certain pandemic devastated things, but my hunch is very few purveyors of food cart edibles and potables are still out there hawking their goods, at least for the time being. For those wanting a little trip to the "before (Covid) times", Man Push Cart is an exercise in “minimalist” cinema focusing on one such food cart operator, and it’s a film with a definite verité ambience that might be described, as in fact it is described in the commentary included on this disc as a supplement, as being “observational”. That aspect may mean that the story is not filled with “traditional” conflict or character development, but it also means that Man Push Cart is an unusually engrossing "slice of life" effort that becomes surprisingly powerful due to its very "simplicity".
Man Push Cart is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Criterion only set a check disc for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any information about the transfer contained in the insert booklet, but Criterion's website mentions that this is a "High-definition digital master, supervised and approved by director Ramin Bahrani, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray". Several online sources state this was digitally captured with a Sony CineAlta, but the prevalence of dark settings can lead to a gritty and at times arguably slightly noisy appearance, as can probably be gleaned from several of the screenshots accompanying this review. In better lighting conditions, the imagery is decently detailed, if still occasionally on the fuzzy side. Fine detail on things like Ahmad's ribbed sweater can be quite precise looking. The palette looks skewed just slightly toward blues at times, but on the whole looks natural. Despite the prevalence of really dark sequences throughout the film, I noticed no major compression anomalies.
Man Push Cart features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in English, though there are occasional moments in what I'm assuming is Urdu, with optional English subtitles (see screenshot 16). The track provides good engagement of the side and rear channels in the glut of outdoor material where the bustling urban environment of New York City, even in the wee hours of the morning or the slowdowns of late night, can still offer a wealth of background ambient sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout and there are no problems with regard to damage or distortion. Optional English subtitles are available.
As many have mentioned through the years, there's a neorealist slant to Man Push Cart that is quite visceral at times, even if the film tends to amble, and perhaps occasionally even stumble, along. The story is on the oppressive side at times, but that actually is part of its power. Video is a little gritty and fuzzy at times, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, but audio is often nicely immersive, and as usual with Criterion releases, the supplementary package is very well done. Recommended.
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