Set in 1938, WATER chronicles the plight of widows in India, where they are forced to live exiled from the general public, begging for their existence. Some of them only children when they're husbands die are doomed to a life on the outskirts of society with no real chance of bettering their situation. While their lives may seem grim, this hopeful film from director Deepa Mehta wishes for a better life and finds joy in simply living. For the filmmaker who endured years of government shut downs and death threats from Hindu extremists for making this film, its nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at last year's Oscars is a glorious recognition of her determination and sacrifice.
At the age of eight, Chuyia (Sarala) is a widow sent to live in a home with other widows, which is only one of three options for her — the other two being throw herself on her husband's funeral pyre or marry his younger brother. At the melancholy ashram, the young girl's boundless energy disrupts the structured lives of the widows. She quickly befriends the beautiful 20-something Kalyani (Lisa Ray, BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD), who was widowed at about the same age as Chuyia. The rotund Madhumati (Manorama, DEVI) rules over the women, taking the best food and pimping Kalyani out to men of a higher caste. Shakuntala (Seema Biswas, BANDIT QUEEN) is a sad, devout Hindu, who runs the day-to-day operations of the ashram. Patiraji aka Auntie (Dr. Vidula Javalgekar) is a kind old woman who longs for sweets she had at her wedding. One day Kalyani meets Narayana (John Abraham), a handsome young lawyer, who wants to change the conditions for widows in his country inspired by the teachings of the ever-growingly popular leader Gandhi.
As the title suggests, the film is filled with water from the holy Ganges River to the rainfall during monsoon season. Mehta uses water in many different ways as metaphors for cleansing, redemption, sadness, foreboding and the divide between classes. Unlike the West, white is the color of mourning in India and when the film explodes with color it is truly joyous. For such a sad topic the film is often filled with beautiful photography.
This idea underlines the film's chief dramatic flaw. While it never undermines the story completely, it does prevent it from taking off. The ashram never seems as grim as it needs to be for the audience to respond to it on a gut level. I'm not saying that the story should have dipped into melodramatics, however shifted focus could have connected the viewer more with the miserable scope of the women's living conditions. Chuyia is our inactive central character; she serves as the catalyst to action for the rest of the characters. With her uncapped energy, she is not the person you want at the center of a story that is supposed to be about suffering. The character that understands suffering the most is Shakuntala, who turns out to be the real central character of the story. If the film shifted its focus more to her point of view, we might have felt the tragedy more fully.
With this said, the film does not fail to engage the audience, regarding the sad state of women in India. As we learn before the end credits, the practice of shunning widows is still a practice in India. One cannot fault Mehta for making a more hopeful film than was expected. Brought to life from a stellar cast (one will marvel at the fact that young Sarala does not speak Hindi), WATER still stands firmly alongside films like KANDAHAR and OSAMA as champions for women's rights around the globe.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
