The Waiting City (2010)

Australian couple Fiona (Radha Mitchell) and Ben Simmons (Joel Edgerton) arrive in Calcutta to adopt and pick up Indian orphan Lakshmi. Fiona is frustrated by the waiting and the bureaucracy. Ben is a laid back musician who reconnects with Scarlett (Isabel Lucas). The couple fights about their different view points and the adoption. They decide to go find Lakshmi at the orphanage while they immerse themselves in the spirituality of India.The couple starts out as being unappealing and they never recover from that. She's a Type A, entitled westerner. He's uncaring and almost cold to her. The movie confronts that idea quickly. Ben is so clueless to her anxiety that it really frustrated me. The only thing saving Fiona is that she is obviously going to find enlightenment and salvation in the end. I don't like this couple and I stop caring about them.

This is one of those films I found in Netflix and watched knowing nothing about it. Well, sometimes you score! What a surprise: this is a great film. It works on so many levels. The way that the personal story of this couple is woven in with the affect on them of Calcutta is awesome. It's about a couple from Australia who go to India to receive the baby girl they've been waiting two years to adopt. Once they get there, naturally, there are all kinds of bureaucratic delays. So there they are in Calcutta with time to kill. The visuals of Calcutta as Fiona and her husband experience the city and its people are incredible: vivid, graphic and real. I got such a sense of the culture; it was fascinating to watch the impact it had, especially on Fiona, who, as a Type A atheist lawyer, despite her beliefs, or lack thereof, winds up receiving the spiritual energy of the city and country. The acting is also excellent, which, as always, intensifies the experience of the film. I highly recommend The Waiting City for anyone who wants to watch something different, original,visually stunning, and emotionally gripping.

"You must act out of love, not desperation or need."I've yet to see a movie set in India that wasn't a visual treat to watch, and The Waiting City definitely earns it's place on that list. The story, about an Australian couple come to Kolkata to adopt a child in the hopes that it will fix their strained relationship, is also interesting, even though I thought it stumbled into predictable, melodramatic territory at times. This is sort of an emotional coming of age story for the two main characters, both as individuals and a couple. The transition from who they are at the beginning to who they are at the end isn't exactly handled in the most organic way, but it is mostly believable. The movie dabbles in ideas about faith and spirituality, as well, but in a very unfocused way. I recommend The Waiting City to those interested in India, fans of Radha Mitchell or Joel Edgerton, and movie fans comfortable with subdued, personal storytelling that takes its time to get where it's going.

I saw this film recently at the Sydney Film Festival and I still can't stop thinking about it. It was well beyond my expectations. I don't think I've ever been taken so far away and felt so close to home.I can't recommend this film enough and without giving too much away have to say this is one of the most stand out films I have seen in a very long time. The actors are superb, their chemistry is completely spot on, the way India is filmed made me feel like I was there and in so many moments made me question everything I've ever thought about. The story is touching and so real. I have never seen the lead actors Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell look so good or be so likable and I've seen quite few of their movies.The director spoke at the Q&A after wards and mentioned that she spent a lot of time working in India in the slums of Calcutta and also made a documentary film about her younger sister in India. This really shines through. She has clearly put the time in, done the research and knows the world of this story. Her message in the film is also very moving. She has a balanced view of all the things the film covers in the story. The film does deal with some complex things like stresses between long term relationships, expectations between couples, family and cultural differences and a range of other things but somehow I managed to have quite a lot of laughs all the way through.A really good balance between the drama and the funnier side. Very grown up film-making and a pleasure to watch.It is has been a very long time that any film, in particular an Australian film has made me feel even close to what this film has. I cannot recommend THE WAITING CITY enough.