Water
Context:
A film by Deepa Mehta
-Third part to her controversial elemental trilogy
- Got inspiration for film from seeing an old widow distraught on the street because she lost something. No one paid any attention to her nor did any one try to help her.
-Mongrel Media and A David Hamilton Production
-Based in India in 1930’s
Complications during production included massive protesting during shooting in India and delayed filming for 5yrs. They had to relocate to Sri Lanka and film under a false title for safety reasons.
Content:
Overall the content of this film addressed the role of widowed women in India whose lives were ruled by ancient religious texts. The story is focused on the journey of a young Hindi girl named Chuyia, who becomes a widow at a very young age and is forced into a life of seclusion. The other women who share this life all have different ways of getting by but together, their struggles weave a story of love, passion, religious ideals hardship and freedom that ultimately is ruled by identity and ethical inquiry.
Form:
Colors: Blues and greens were emphasized throughout the film primarily to give the feel of water. Also these colors were used to give the viewer a sense of calmness and break from the struggles and tensions of the characters in the film. The color blue was also mentioned in the behind the scenes section as the color of Krishna.
Location: The complications in shooting the film are fascinating and to think of the bravery that it took to re-locate to Sri Lanka after huge protests is admirable. In reading about the locations on the link that was assigned the funniest thing that stuck out to me was that the crew had to build Hindu temples along the river in a town that was primarily Muslim. The funny thing being that tour boats would ride up and down the river telling people about the ‘ancient Hindu temples’ and had to be chased out of the scene. The river itself being hard to light at night and difficult to control (tour boats), I felt as I watched the film that the location felt real and did not seem to be constructed at all. This is due to the use of nature as it is with beautiful shots of trees and the river shoreline.
Camera: In the behind the scenes section that we watched in class, they talked about the camera being non-intrusive and strictly observational. This gave a smooth flow to the film and allowed the spectator to become lost in the world that this film constructed.
Analysis:
The importance of water in this film represents this uncontrollable flow or current that ruled these women’s lives. This current also represented the uncontrolled fate that was to happen later in film. In the beginning, Chuyia believes that she is just a visitor and that she will not be staying long. This is reinforced when she meets Kalyani who says that Krishna says Chuyia will not stay long either.
Feminism (vs.) Humanism
Deepa Mehta sees herself as a humanist rather than a feminist. In the link I have never made a film for ‘shock factor’, Mehta explains that she hoped that this film would allow the viewer to feel compassion for the characters in the film even if this was a whole new world for the viewer. She specifically says that this is a humanist film.
I completely agree with Mehta, but I feel that it is not too different from feminism. I feel that in order to make feminist media, women must be humanized first because women are usually objectified first. Is humanism the new feminism?