Another notSIFF movie: Deepa Mehta’s “Water”
Hindu fundamentalists were enraged by a new movie, Water, that depicts the life of a Hindu widow in the early 20th century. The film was begun in 2000 but filming shut down for four years after extremists forced the production to leave India with set burnings and death threats. (The movie was eventually finished in Sri Lanka.)
It is, according to reviews, a surprisingly quiet and lovely film to cause such a fierce reaction.
Hindu widows at the time were traditionally considered bad luck and forced to live in destitution. That included 8-year-old ‘widows’ who had been placed in arranged marriages by their parents. The film follows such a girl, and the people she meets, and the life she eventually finds.
“Water” is playing at the Seven Gables all weekend.
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I would add “moving” and “powerful” to the description. Best film I’ve seen in a long while.
As an aside: I just finished the book by Devyani Saltzman (Deepa Mehta’s daughter) about the complexities and struggles of filming “Water” (”Shooting Water”). One of the many details that I found astonishing: the Sri Lankan girl who played the 8 year old widow didn’t speak Hindi and had to be coached phonetically on the set. She’s amazing.
See it!
Drury