Water

India is one of the most prolific filmmaking countries in the world, but most of its content is the populist Bollywood fare, but there are the occasional serious, as in art house, filmmakers in the vein of Satyajit Ray. Interestingly two of the most adventurous and internationally recognised are women; Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding) and Deepa Mehta, the director of Water. It is even more remarkable when you consider the topic of her latest film and that the attitudes it demonstrates are still prevalent today.


Water is the third part of the Canada-based director's elemental trilogy (the other two are Fire and Earth. Set in the holy city of Varanasi, India towards the end of British imperial rule, it tells the story of eight-year-old Chuyia, who is recently widowed. At that time widows had their heads shaved and were consigned to live their entire lives in isolated charity homes, rejected by the general public as polluted, and forbidden to marry again. Chuyia is sent to live out the rest of her life in one of these institutions. Here she meets Kalyani (Lisa Ray), a beautiful young widow who falls in love with an educated young man who, in reciprocating her affections, is prepared to overturn tradition. Unfortunately, self-appointed matriarch of the home has been secretly pimping out Kalyani to wealthy local men to augment the home's income.

But it is a time of great change in India and Ghandi’s politics are sweeping the nation. People are questioning religious interpretations that undermine social progress and the rights of women.

Underneath this very moving and beautifully shot film is a very powerful and controversial social statement, that saw the director receive death threats from Hindu fundamentalists (fanaticism isn't just limited to Muslims, as the press and government would have us believe). When the film first started shooting her sets were destroyed and production was abandoned for five years, eventually resuming in secret in Sri Lanka.

India is a land of great contrasts and it is further highlighted in this movie. Women and wives are worshipped as goddesses, and their chastity respected and yet widows are treated as untouchables. With child brides being a common occurrence in those days, it meant that institutions were filled with women who had no real childhood or life at all. Despite the huge social and economic changes in India over the last decade or two, and women have far greater freedom (even to make films of this nature), millennia of religious conditioning means that there are still millions of widows still treated as outcasts.

Although the injustice and unrequited love lends the movie powerful emotional content, ultimately it is a positive story about the prospects of change and renewal. The leads give well-balanced performances and are ably supported by what must a cast of non-professional actors. The real star of the film is the cinematography which exquisitely captures all the beauty and contrasts of India (even if it is substituted for by Sri Lanka). Every shot is perfectly composed and lit and really puts the Art into art house cinema.

Apart from the stunning visuals it has an excellent soundtrack from India's top young musicians including Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi), and songwriters A R Rahman and Sukhwinder Singh. Luckily, the songs are just part of the overall soundtrack and not performed with dancing and playback singers, like Bollywood movies.

I can't recommend this film highly enough to anyone who appreciates good, intelligent cinema, but without pretense and grungy images.

Cameo 1, Edinburgh
Thursday 24 August 19:00

Cineworld, Edinburgh
Saturday 26 August 14:15