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Water (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:79
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: This compassionate work of social criticism is also luminous, due to both its lyrical imagery and cast.
Theatrical Release:01-06-2007
Synopsis: When Deepa Mehta first began filming WATER in 2000, angry fundamentalist mobs burned her sets and threatened her life. The Indian government claimed it could not protect her, and the project had to... When Deepa Mehta first began filming WATER in 2000, angry fundamentalist mobs burned her sets and threatened her life. The Indian government claimed it could not protect her, and the project had to wait four years before finally filming in Sri Lanka. Her film has raised the ire of extremists because it challenges the Hindu customs that dictate that widows, considered half-dead after the loss of their husbands, must be closeted in holy ashrams--a practice that still exists today. Set in the 1930s, the film tells the story of eight-year old Chuyia, whose husband dies before she even meets him. Her parents shave her head and whisk her away to a house of widows where the women sleep on the ground and beg in the streets to earn their puny portion of rice. Chuyia, feisty and resilient, comes into this world like a ray of light, and soon the women are rethinking their mute acceptance of their fate. Her closest friend and ally is the lovely Kalyani, and soon a forbidden romance begins to develop between Kalyani and Narayana, a young Brahmin man who, following the teachings of Gandhi, has denounced injustice. The film is sumptuously beautiful, Chuyia is utterly winsome, and despite the harsh social issues at its heart, it often feels light and lively: Chuyia and Kalyani play games and dance, Chuyia steals sweets for a dying old widow, the women dance and paint each other's faces during a color festival, and the Cinderella-story romance between Kalyani and Narayana shimmers with the promise of salvation and happiness. Mehta, however, knows it would be disingenuous to allow such an easy resolution to such a dire situation, and the final chapter of WATER takes a tragic turn. [More]
Starring: Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Kalbushan Kharbadna, Waheeda Rehman
Starring: Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Kalbushan Kharbadna, Waheeda Rehman, Rishma Malik, John Abraham
Director: Deepa Mehta
Director: Deepa Mehta
Screenwriter: Deepa Mehta
Producer: Mark Burton
Composer: Mychael Danna
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Reviews for Water
Powerful tale that unfortunately fails to provide any kind of real historical context for the oppression of Indian widows.
Perhaps the adversity of making the movie allowed the filmmakers and actors to empathize more fully with the subject and characters of Water.
... the incidence of violence against women at home or in institutions give Mehta's 1938 tale a currency that confirms the old notion "actions change, but attitudes do not."
Surprisingly, not much has changed in the last 70 years. The tradition of sequestering widows continues in India. Mehta deserves praise for spotlighting this situation. WATER is one of the year's best films.
Though it's a story told with feminist sensitivity, it's also the most relevant perspective for such injustice to women.
Full of lush, fluid cinematography and evocative music, Water is an important look at a social injustice, and Mehta's most accomplished film yet.
... gorgeous and heartbreaking... full of glorious, unforgettably pretty images... But they do not overpower Mehta's involving drama or the exceptionally fine performances of her stars...
Quite possibly the best picture of the year thus far, with no fewer than three of the most luminous female performances I have ever seen onscreen.
Mehta prevailed, and this scandalous, beautiful and very moving tale of repression, hope and a tragedy is her triumph, and Hindu India's shame.
Water simmers at the injustice heaped upon these women because of religious tradition.
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