Monday, June 1, 2009

Amal

Amal is one of those movies designed for the naive and hopeful optimists of this world.  This is quite obvious from the title - Amal is arabic for hope - and it doesn't attempt to hide its black-and-white view of the world.  Set amidst the slums of a major Indian city (the setting provides the primary charm of the movie), Amal is an auto-rickshaw driver with an unlimited generosity of spirit - who cares nothing about money unless it is well earned, and is driven to live up to the sacrifices of his now-dead father.  His rather unbelievable goodness is contrasted against pretty much everyone else in society - who are uniformly motivated by greed, sloth and other deadly sins.  Amal meets a dying, grumpy millionaire who likes to slum around and annoy people - thus confirming their unworthiness - and (surprise) earns an unwitting entry into the old man's will.  The movie then meanders through empathy and coincidence as the viewer watches to see if the uber-deserving Amal will be cheated out of this unlikely inheritance.  

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