Deepa Mehta about Hindu widows (Water reviewed)
{FILM DIARY}
Water (Canada/India, 2005)
Seen: Monday, 23rd March 2009 (cinema, special screening)
Runtime: 117′
Director: Deepa Mehta
Cast: Sarala, Manorama, Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Raghuvir Yadav
Production House: Deepa Mehta Films, Flagship International, David Hamilton Productions, Echo Lake Productions, Noble Nomad Pictures, Téléfilm Canada
Plot: Chuyia is 7 years old when her husband dies. She has never seen him since the day she got married and the wedding was so long ago she does not remember it. But from then on she is forced to live the life of a widow.
Trailer
Impressions In Short
It’s a slow, but very engaging film with some very emotionally striking scenes.
More About the Film
This is a film that takes its time, but just when you think you’re going to get bored, it does something to keep your attention. It’s very beautifully shot and the music really helps to keep you engaged too (guess what - it’s by A.R. Rahman, this year’s Oscar winner *grin* ).
The acting was great all round :) The whole cast was very strong.
It was interesting seeing John Abraham in a part like that. I always find him a bit too bland, but this was a part where the blandness worked and I really liked him *grin* It’s actually a shame I’m usually not that keen on him cause I love his choice of roles - especially more recently.
Then there was the guy (Raghuvir Yadav), who played Gulabi (the eunuch). He’s one of those Bollywood actors that appear all over the place in supporting roles (or at least I’ve seen him quite a few times). This, although a relatively small part, was one of the best eunuch parts I’ve seen. They’re quite difficult parts cause the actor has to be rather exaggerated and usually gets a lot of comedic lines (even in this film that was the case), so it’s very easy to fall into the trap of playing a caricature of an eunuch. Mind you, Gulabi is a very well written part which makes it somewhat easier, but I still think Raghuvir Yadav was awesome *grin*
The widows were all great. Again, very well written parts - every one of them was an individual. And the whole dynamic between them was brilliantly done. Chuyia was awesome.
A lot of the time films with a social message get too focused on the message and not enough on getting the viewers involved, but this film didn’t make that mistake :) The story worked well “as a story”, not just “as a social message”. It had a really nice build-up, in fact I think it got better as it went along.
Recommended?
Yes, definitely. Unless maybe you have a particularly strong stance against slow films or something like that (though IMO as far as slow films go this one is very watchable ;) ).
I think on the whole I actually liked Deepa Mehta’s Earth even better than I liked Water, but I think both are definitely worthy of recommendation *grin*
