Monday Night at The Movies: Water

Sometimes, when we're feeling all rebellious and wild, we go to the movies on a Monday night. I've been wanting to see WATER for a while now.

"Deepa Mehta's Water is a magnificent film. The ensemble acting of the women in the widows' hostel is exceptional: intimate, painful, wounded, jaundiced, corrupted, tender, tough. The fluid lyricism of the camera provides an unsettling contrast to the arid difficulties of the characters' lives. The film has serious, challenging things to say about the crushing of women by atrophied religious and social dogmas, but, to its great credit, it tells its story from inside its characters, rounding out the human drama of their lives, and unforgettably touching the heart."
- Salman Rushdie

It start's off very slow. I had a feeling it was going to be good. Basically, these women who are widows in India, because of financial reasons, get thrown into a widow's flop house where they are expected to live until they die. Based on some ancient Hindu tradition, a woman may not marry if she is widowed. And often, these women were married at the age of 7, so they could easily be pushed into living in this awful place for most of their lives. It was a devastating movie. It starts with a little girl being hauled off to live with these ancient, bitter widows, and a few sympathetic widows who help her out.

The story takes place in 1938. And Ghandi even makes an appearance. What is so interesting is how the women get small bits of information from the outside world, mostly through local gossip.

The filming is beautiful. The soundtrack is a delight. The story, by the end, is so powerful, you just kind of have to cry. It's summer. There's not so much to see out there. If you have this playing anywhere near you, check it out.