NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (February 2021): Criterion have transferred Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "High-definition digital master, supervised and approved by director Ramin Bahrani". The natural pairing of the film is the director's Chop Shop that would come out a couple of years later on the Festival circuit - and simultaneously released, with Man Push Cart, on Blu-ray by Criterion. This looks a slight notch below the 2007 film - possibly due to the advancement in both the production budget for Chop Shop and the technical changes in HD shooting. This has minor smearing in-motion and the darker scenes can represent as being noisy. It is, predictably, clean and consistent - the 1080P has impressive moments of detail. It looks like a wonderful representation of the original film - made 16-years ago. 

NOTE: We have added 70 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original English and, infrequent, Urdu languages. There is some background traffic noises that separate during the film that is, more or less, devoid of aggressive sound. The score is by Peyman Yazdanian (The Wind Will Carry Us), sounding spiritual and contemplative. Some may recognize Goher Mumtaz's Aadat performed by Atif Aslam and Mumtaz plus brief snippets of rapping and karaoke. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles for both English and the spoken Urdu in the film. The disc is a Region 'A' -locked Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers a 2005 commentary by director Ramin Bahrani, director of photography Michael Simmonds, assistant director Nicholas Elliott, and actor Ahmad Razvi. They discuss the use of a long lens through much of the film, lighting, the editing difficulties - thanking Iranian director Amir Naderi and screenwriter Lodge Kerrigan for their advice and input. They laugh at the low-budget trappings including Razvi sleeping on Bahrani's couch for the entire shoot, French author Albert Camus, Antonioni, Bresson, Cassavetes ('dare to be dark'), Kiarostami, artist John Higgins, that this film was Ahmad's first acting experience etc. There is also a new 25-minute conversation among Bahrani, Elliott, and Razvi on the making of the film, plus a 20-minute conversation between Bahrani and scholar Hamid Dabashi on the origins of the film and Bahrani’s cinematic influences. This was very interesting. Criterion include Bahrani's dozen minute 1998 short film Backgammon that 'tells the tale of a young Iranian American girl who desperately wants to play backgammon with her stubborn grandfather who has recently arrived from Iran. Within the circle of a family gathering, the film brings together a subtle yet compelling story of generational conflicts and cultural identity.' Lastly, is a trailer. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Bilge Ebiri. 

While Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart is  certainly recommended - more wonderful Dardenne-esque cinema - I believe the director's Chop Shop is a notably superior effort. Those uninitiated to Bahrani, I recommend watching Man Push Cart via this director supervised and approved Criterion Blu-ray followed by Chop Shop. This package also offers a revealing commentary and valued supplements plus exposure to a fascinating modern filmmaker. This is very strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze