Sweet splash

The Pool is a nuanced tale
of coming-of-age in India

CLEVER AND SHARP: The Pool

by MATTHEW HAYS

Behold the distinct career of filmmaker Chris Smith. In a series of fascinating documentaries, Smith examined the lives of unusual outsiders—like American Movie, in which he profiled one wannabe horror filmmaker and his strange life on the margins. Somehow hilarious without being cruel, with this film, Smith proved himself a keen observer of the human condition.

Adding another wrinkle to his wacky body of work is The Pool, a film Smith chose to make in India, made entirely in the Hindi language—even though he doesn’t speak a word of it (clearly, the man likes challenges). Co-written by Smith and Randy Russell (based on Russell’s short story), The Pool tells a quirky story of two Indian lads who scrape together their livings from odd jobs in India’s booming economy. Venkatesh, 17, works at the local hotel making beds, while occasionally teaming up with Jahangir, 11, to sell used plastic bags on the street. It doesn’t sound luxurious, but there’s a sweet nature to their friendship and the two are not painted as hapless victims by Smith.

Venkatesh soon spies a beautiful pool in the upscale estate of an Indian man. Venkatesh notices that no one ever seems to actually use the pool, and wonders how such a decadent, beautiful thing could possibly go unused. He begins following the owner of the house and his daughter around, eager to learn more about them. He soon manages to implicate himself in their lives, hired by the house’s owner to do odd jobs around the place. Venkatesh is smitten with the troubled daughter, whose past indiscretions are the stuff of mysterious family scandal.

The Pool is a sharp film, but it’s also nuanced and not overdone. It has been praised as a truly realistic bit of cinema, and it does seem to owe something to the bare-bones, non-professional-actor populated films of the Italian neo-realist movement. It is also bound to be a bit eclipsed by Danny Boyle’s breakout hit Slumdog Millionaire, which is too bad. The Pool is every bit as clever as that film is, just not quite so glitzy, and just as worth seeing.

THE POOL OPENS THIS FRIDAY, MAY 1