This movie is made by one of the best order of canada film directors It is so. Controversial it couldnt be made in india but had to be done in sri lanka to keep its south asian authenticity. It takes place before indian independance. Get out your kleenex. It does not have a happy love story ending
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Despite all the opposition and threats against her, finally Deepa Mehta was able to finish Water, the last in the trilogy of elements(Fire, Earth). The mere complition and release of the movie must have been a triumph. It is shot very beautifully and acted rather gracefully. Movie talks about the condition of widows in the pre-independence India. It was suppose to be set in the holy city of Varanasi which sits on the banks of river Ganga, but a Sri Lankan town substitutes for Varanasi, hence you miss the beautiful temples in the background. The story is short, simple and sad. Being short, sometimes it appears to be stretched to complete the length of the movie. The movie contains none of the hollywood/bollywood glamour and might be slow and bleak for some. While it is a delight for those who wish to see a simple story, being told simply.Read full review
This work of gorgeous fury, about the virtual imprisonment of millions of Hindu widows in the years before independence, transforms Mehta's feminist rage into an eloquent testament to the hunger for freedom. Production on the third and most powerful chapter of Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's "Elements" trilogy was delayed for years by religious fundamentalists who staged demonstrations, torched the filmmaker's sets, and threatened her life. But she was not to be thwarted. This work of gorgeous fury, about the virtual imprisonment of millions of Hindu widows in the years before independence, transforms Mehta's feminist rage into an eloquent testament to the hunger for freedom. Her heroines, an eight-year-old widow called Chuyia (played by Sarala, a child chosen from a village in Sri Lanka) and a beautiful woman in her twenties (Lisa Ray), come to embody the spirit of the time (the film is set in 1938), when the great liberationist Mahatma Gandhi was on the rise, but the old repressions were still very much in force.Read full review
I have seen the trilogy - Fire, Earth, & Water. Each of these movies has stories of women and their struggles in India. During the production and screening of these three films, there were protests, riots, and death threats on Deepa Mehta's life. (and still to this day) Many people of India were outraged by the frankness of the issues in these films. Many even denied that they are truth, out of humiliation for their people! Water is a beautifully told story of Chuiya, a girl who is widowed at 8 years old. Many widows in India are then sent to a commune to live out the rest of their lives. Chuiya hates it there, but makes a new friend, Kuhlyani. Kuhlyani is a young widow herself (in her 20's?) who longs for a life with a husband and family, away from the other older widows. See Chuiya and her friend deal with their life at the commune, and what happens when they meet a young wealthy man who is curious about them. The only down side to this movie is that it is English subtitles. Personally, I don't mind them, but I know some people have a hard time keeping up or even seeing the words. Still, it's a beautiful, moving film that made me bawl in the end - just knowing that somewhere in the world, there really are 8 yr old girls who become widows and are sent away from their families for life to live in a commune, only so they won't inherit the dead husband's assests. I also think this film is educational for teenage children. (13+) Not for young children, as there is a few scenes of sexual nature.Read full review
Unquestionable one of the most beutifully photographed films you will ever see. "Water" is thematically the third part of a trilogy started with "Earth" and "Fire" which all deal with changing attitudes and customs among the Hindis. But this is not only a gorgeous film to look at--the story is totally involving also. It revolves around an eight year old girl who according to custom was betrothed nearly at birth. Her intended dies before the film begins (in fact the opening line in the movie is one of the most shocking I have ever heard)at which time she is placed into a "house of women" where she is forbidden by religion to ever remarry. The period is shortly before the election of Ghandi and the film reflects his desire for change and for a betterment of his people. There are moments of humor and sadness as the young girl's story unfolds around an odd assortment of young and old women who bide their time in the same house. I was fortunate to find a copy of this on DVD from Canada (also region 1) prior to it's release in the U.S. as the film was co-financed with Canadian funding. The version I bought was a 2-disc set with one being in the original Hindi and the second actually not dubbed but a version of the movie filmed in English. I had never seen this done before but it is certainly an incentive for those who don't want to sit through a sub-titled film or worse yet a dubbed version. I would recommend this film more highly than any other movie I have seen all year (and I see a lot of them).Read full review
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