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Very well executed

Memorable, crazy movie

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film takes on a tragic theme-- the plight of widows in India. Unfortunately it is so riddled with clichés that, for me at least, it's impact was undermined. An eight year old girl wakes up to be told by her father that she is a widow. She is taken to an ashram to live with a group of mostly old women, also widows. Among them is a young, beautiful and rather European looking widow. There is a love story with a handsome, idealistic man, who is willing to break taboos to marry a widow. Set in 1938 the film tries to portray the conflict with old traditions and modernity. Gandhi even gets a cameo. While Water is beautifully filmed, in the end I felt that I had watched a piece of glossy propaganda, albeit for a good cause.

Water is a movie about widows that don't really try to escape being a widow or get remarried but one woman thought it was right and she should be able to get remarried. I think this movie is trying to tell us that if you truly believe it is right, and try, it can be achieved. This is kind of like living up to your own world-view. One example of someone living up to their world-view is when one widow wanted to get married and all the other widows wanted to stop her because they believed it would curse them. She fought through them and was able to take down the peer pressure because she truly loved that man. Her whole community was against her but she still was able to go for what she believed was right. Chuyia (the little girl) also showed how she tried to fight for her world-view because when she announced that one of the widows were going to get married, one of the older widows said she couldn't. Chuyia started stepping harshly on the older widow which shows how she was standing for what she believed was right. A final example of a widow trying to what she believes is right is when Didi takes the key from the elderly widow who locked up the widow that wanted to get married. She freed the widow so she could get married, but she knew this would make many have no respect for her. Overall many people in this movie did what they truly believed was the right thing to do in their situation, and some went beyond Gods commandments, not sure if God would be okay with it but it was her world-view and she thought it was true.Arc of Movie: This movie talked about a young widow (around 7 years old) being taken to a widow house with many other widows. She meets a widow named Kalyani who meets a man and wants to marry this man. Other widows say if she marries this man she will get cursed. Kalyani commits suicide and another widow doesn't want Chuyia (the little girl) to live with the other widows in their sad life so she gave Chuyia to the handsome man that Kalyani wanted to marry, when he was on a train with Gandhi.

Although slow-moving at first, Water eases the viewer into a world of oppression, drugs, and unfairness. Chuyia's naive attitude towards the widow houses highlights the injustices endured by widows in India. In particular, her question about where the men widows are highlight the sexism present in traditional Hindu customs. Only women have to endure the tragic life that is being a widow. The environment of the widows gradually worsens, with the themes of tradition, drugs, and prostitution being highlighted in the movie. This contrasts with the life of luxury that the upper class and Brahmins live. However, despite all that, at the core of the story is a love story between Kalyani and Narayan. Despite the surrounding environment, their love gives them hope and strength. In a stunning plot twist, realization and circumstance crush the hopes of Kalyani and Narayan's love. Their sad tale ends with Kalyani's suicide, and Chuyia taking her place to be ferried across the river as a prostitute. Shakatula, Chuyia's friend, sends her away. She realizes there is no future for Chuyia in the widow house anymore.This movie effectively utilizes a slow pace and build-up of the story so that we as viewers can better relate to the characters in the story. When the horrors of the widow house are slowly revealed, a sense of empathy is felt. When the cause of the horrors are revealed to be the result of systematic corruption of laws and outdated tradition, it brings out a sense of anger. The tragic love story and the ending captions just amplify this sense of injustice, forcing people to realize that these unfair Hindu customs need to be changed.

Water is set near the river through the city of Varansi.Chuyia, who is about 8 or 9 years when the man she married died, although she does not remember her him. Conforming to Hindu customs she is taken to a house of widows to live out her life - although she does not want to go.The house is dominated by two women - the fat domineering Madhumati and the strong, confident head of the house, Shakuntala. In the house, she also meets the beautiful Kalyani - who secretly owns a puppy which she shares with Chuyia. One day, the puppy runs of, and Chuyia runs in pursuit. Narayan catches the puppy and brings him back to Kalyani and is struck by her.Naryan comes from a very rich family and is becoming a lawyer, and is also a progressive and follower of Mohandas Gandhi. He wants India to modernise and to be freed from the traditions he thinks are backwards. So he is willing to break to taboos against widows.Thus, the romance between Kalyani and Narayan starts.Central to the film, are the problems and stigmata faced by the widows. Since they can't work, they must beg to survive. This is often not enough, so Madhumati pimps out the pretty widows to wealthy men in the city. And sometimes the girls being pimped out are very young.When Chuyia first meets Madhumati, she remarks that she was Chuyia's age when she first came to the house of widows. Later, remarks that her husband died when was first having sex with her - indicating that one of the problems is the sexual exploitation of children.There are many cultural and political reference that I was not able to understand. The cultural include the tree under which Kalyani and Narayan embrace.The political element is also very strong - the veneration of Mohandas Gandhi and the Congress Party as the saviours of India. There were also many religious references and comments that I did not understand, that made the film controversial. This is also given away by the quoting of statistics at the end of the film.The cinematography, the soundtrack and the acting were all brilliant. It was tightly directed and very well paced. Deepa Mehta has certainly shown her talents as a director, and I will endeavor to see more of her films.