"The City of Joy"

Patrick's finest work as an actor has no doubt been as the very complex "Dr. Max Lowe" in "The City of Joy." With everything seemingly going his way at a Houston hospital, the young "Dr. Max" leaves the USA in search of ... well, I'm not even sure he knew what he was in search of. Nevertheless, "Dr. Max" arrives in India, on the brink of his own self-destruction. Fortunately, through a series of events, "Dr. Max" finds an inner strength and reason for being that he didn't know existed and goes on to escape the bland existence he once had.


Patrick commented the following in an interview with Joan Lunden on "Good Morning America" on April 10, 1992:
I've never read a script this wonderful...that speaks to our souls on a level that movies don't do any more...and it's an epic, it's a huge film with scope, yet it's about small things. It's about little things that the real heroes of this world are the people that just fight and struggle every day to stay alive and feed their families...we all suffer from the same fears, the same pain.. that no one's pain is greater than anyone else's, and the courage that we can possess and do possess."


Patrick commented the following in an interview with Larry King on "Larry King Live" on April 12, 1992:
This was the opportunity of a lifetime for me as an actor and as a person, and what this film could say to the world - You walk out of this movie feeling wonderful about your life and that we all do possess dignity and .... I was on a mission from God with this. You know, I felt like they would have to kill me to get me out of this country.


Noteable Cast and Credit Information

  • A TriStar Pictures Release
  • Directed by Roland Joffe
  • Music by Ennio Morricone
  • Also stars Pauline Collins as "Joan Bethel"
  • Also stars Om Puri as "Hasari Pal"


"The City of Joy" is based on the novel by Dominique Lapierre. I strongly recommend the novel in addition to the movie. However, please note the following. It is not an "easy" novel to read. If you have seen the movie and find the conditions and situations difficult to view, you will find the book's depictions even more heartwrenching. However, to really understand how this wonderful people find their "joy", the book is a must experience.
Be warned also, if you are looking to read more about that cute little Houston doctor, he's in but a small part of the book, and in actuality has a little different existence than what we see in the movie. His essence, however, is very real and still a pivotal part of Lapierre's novel.
I am in no way trying to detract anyone from reading "The City of Joy", but am merely pointing out that if learning what "this cesspool of a country" (as "Dr. Max" terms it in the film) really means frightens you, or if looking for a "Dirty Dancing" "Dr. Max" is your main goal, then this novel isn't for you. However, if you are intrigued by the peoples of India, in finding out what it means to be grateful for having a light bulb in your room, in learning what motivates peoples like "Hasari" to get up every day, then you must read this novel! Your life will never be the same!




The above photos (extreme right and left) are of Patrick and Lisa at the premier of "The City of Joy". The center photo is Patrick entering the studios for his interview on "Larry King Live".


Did You Know?


  • When the movie was first released there was a lot of talk about "Dr. Max" as a "suicidal young doctor" which seemed to confuse many. The reason for this is that Roland Joffe elected to cut the attempted suicide scene from the film's early moments just prior to the movie's national release. Anyone with access to the movie's original trailer can, however, view at least snipets of what was intended to show just how low "Dr. Max" felt.
  • The monsoon scene used some 250,000 gallons of water per hour.
  • The set consisted of 80 buildings which resembled that of an actual bustee, which is different from a slum. Stated Joffe, "A slum is about things coming to an end, a bustee is about things starting."
  • The movie takes place in a Calcutta bustee called Anand Nagar which translates to "city of joy".
  • While rehearsing the joyous dance scene which opened "Joan's" clinic at its new site, the speakers played Gene Kelley's "Singing in the Rain".
  • The movie's filming was complicated by a ton of red tape and demonstrators. The government, concerned about how the world would view its people through "The City of Joy" fought at several points to prevent the movie from being made. Some even went so far as to try to blame the death of a journalist on the crew, which proved to be baseless. In the end, the film was able to complete its production but not before its stars faced more than one dangerous scenario. Patrick himself has talked about a situation that occurred where a number of demonstrators were approaching him and he was darned scared....and Lisa, while touring Calcutta had to "fast talk" her way out of a situation when she and her brother found themselves surrounded by some rather unsettling types.
  • "City of Joy" was nominated in 1992 for Best Film Democracy by the Political Film Society.


City of Joy VHS City of Joy VHS

Set against the breathtaking beauty and horrifying poverty of Calcutta India CITY OF JOY follows American doctor Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) who abandons his calling as a physician and travels to India to search for meaning in his life. Attacked and robbed upon his arrival he is taken to Joan (Pauline Collins) an Irish nun struggling to provide basic medical care for Calcutta's most overcrowded and impoverished slum where the rich Godfather (Shyamanand Jalan) controls the rent and livelihood of the many families struggling to survive. Hasari Pal (Om Puri) and his family are new to the city and struggling to make enough money to survive. Shocked by the poverty surrounding him Max refuses to be a bystander to the suffering befriending Hasari and helping Joan to open a new clinic. A moving and electrifying portrait of poverty and repression being overcome by support and faith Roland Joffé's CITY OF JOY features stunning footage of Calcutta and its citizens.

From the script:

MAX: My momma and dad, when I was a little boy, they did everything possible to make life safe for me. They didn't want me to have to feel any of life's pain.

From the script:

EXT CLINIC DAY Joan dabs at Max's wrist. Though some information is exchanged here, the scene is also about physical contact between someone with a gentle touch and someone unsure he wants to be touched. .....

The kids charge off. Joan indicates the wrist she's wrapping.

JOAN: Isn't it illegal for Jews to commit suicide?

He looks at her. We assume he won't answer. He surprises us.

MAX: My mother was catholic. I managed a dozen Hail Marys in Hebrew before I hit unconsciousness. Figured that covered me.

They stare at each other. She smiles. Something in her eyes makes him smile too....and as she ducks her head to her ministrations again, he stares at the top of her head, in his eyes and even in the playfulness of what follows, perhaps the first stirrings of life resuscitating.

From the script:

INT EXAMING ROOM DAY

Max is drenched and dirty........ Joan sorting case histories on herbed. We notice she's doing her hair a little more carefully; wearing a bit more makeup. Though she couldn't possibly admit it to herself at this point, these changes are for Max.

Some basic facts about "City of Joy"

Released April 15, 1992
Domestic Box Office: $14,360,321
134 Minutes, Rated PG-13, from TriStar
Filmed in: India (Calcutta West Bengal); Great Britain (London Pinewood Studios)

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Thanks for being Visitor to "City of Joy".

Page Last Updated 05/28/02