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  Matt
  
Willis
Water
India / Canada, 2005
[Deepa Mehta]
Sarala, Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Manorama
Drama / Historical
  
If sheer force of will and overcoming all obstacles were the only measure of a film's worth, then Deepa Mehta's Water would be the only film competing at this year's Oscars. Focusing on a very turbulent and contentious time in Indian history, the movie was originally started in 2000, only to have it's entire set destroyed and thrown into the Ganges by militant Hindu fundamentalists who were openly supported by the Indian government. Recast and refunded, it was eventually shot in 2004 in Sri Lanka with Canadian money, and will be that countries entry in the 2007 Best Foreign Language Film category.

The cause of such militant opposition is somewhat baffling to a Westerner like me. For sure, the films central focus on child brides, forced seclusion of widows in a poverty-stricken compound and blatant sexism is rather shocking, but the film is set in 1938 when such views were the norm. You might think that an historical re-enactment such as this would be no worse than, say,
The Crucible or Braveheart is to American or English feelings. I suppose this ignores the fact that in certain parts of India very little has changed, and that any criticism of Hindu practices, no matter how outdated, is still considered a great insult. That Mehta is a woman, and a foreign based-one who married a white man no less, surely added to this rage, but it is still a worrying indictment of how much further India still needs to go in the 21st century.

Sri Lankan newcomer Sarala (who did not speak Hindi and therefore had to mouth the words without knowing their meaning) plays Chuyia, the 7 year old daughter of poor peasants who is married to man on his deathbed. The opening scene has Chuyia's father telling his daughter that her husband has died and that she is now a widow. The lack of understanding on the girls face belies her new predicament. As a widow she will be taken to a crumbling compound and forced to live the rest of her life among, but apart from, the rest of society, unable to remarry or to enjoy the freedom (however limited) that the rest of her peers enjoy.

While the film is seen mostly through Chuyia's eyes, the central plot revolved around Kalyani (Ray), a beautiful young widow, and Narayan (Abraham), a fervent Ghandhian nationalist who wishes to sweep away the old Hindu practices along with the British occupation. Their forbidden love drives the film towards its painful climax, as Kalyani's past is slowly revealed and her hopes of true happiness dashed. Both Ray and Abraham are acceptable but not spectacular as the doomed couple, with her character's actions not fully explained by either her acting or the script. In comparison Sarala is excellent as the precocious Chuyia, who refuses to live the life chosen for her, and Seema Biswas is outstanding as the religious widow who slowly comes to question the life she has accepted for so long.

Some of the scenes are superb, especially Chuyia's purchase of a sweet for the most elderly widow in the compound. A woman whose happiest memory was her wedding day, as she was gorged upon the most pleasant-tasting foods imaginable, and whose husband clearly met the same fate as Chuyia's. The look of total resignation and sadness which has permanently marked her face was lifted in an instant by that one act of kindness, and it is a scene to tug the heart if ever there was one.

There are problems with the film. On top of Kalyani's and Narayan's relationship not being fully rounded there are issues with some of other characters and their actions. The compound itself appears to be run by a huge fat woman who is also a madam of sorts, and who curses like a sailor. While she is obeyed by most it is never really made clear why Shakuntala (Biswas) and Kalyani have such special dispensation, and why Kalyani does what she does for the fat woman. Abraham's actions towards the end are also not really explained, and ruin his character's arc.

Considering its troubles though
Water is a considerable achievement, and has motivated me to watch the first two parts of the trilogy of films Mehta has produced (the first two being Fire and Earth). The films central themes deserve to be talked about, and their injustices, which still persist to this day in certain places, exposed and destroyed. As a challenging and thought-provoking look at something India would still rather shush up, it is easily on a par with Western films such as Born on the Fourth of July and Thank you for Smoking.
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