Water
Context:
Directed by Deepa Mehta, written by Mehta and Anurag Kashyap. It was released and distributed in the United States in 2005 by Mongrel Media and A David Hamilton Productions. It was the third part to her Elements Trilogy Fire, Earth and Water. While shooting the film in India there were controversial issues surrounding the film, which led to the crew not being able to finishing filming in India and instead finishing the film in Sri Lanka. The film was set in 1938, which was when India was still under colonial rule of the British. During that time, when a woman’s husband died she either had the choice of joining by being put to death or living in a widow’s ashram.
Content:
The film focuses on the character named Chuyia (Sarala Kariyawasam), who when she is 8 is forced to join a window’s ashram when her husband dies before after their arranged marriage. In the ashram, Chuyia is exposed to other women who have been living under the same cultural and literal restrictions most of their lives. While there she befriends two other widows living there named Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) and Kalyani (Lisa Ray). Shakuntala and Kalyani help show Chuyia how they are continuing to live their lives in these conditions, and also help protect Chuyia from the other widow’s living there.
Form:
Camera: The camera is used as tool to document the lives of the women living in the ashram, creating a flowing and natural progression of the story. Many of the shots frame the women within the camera to show their oppression and restriction in the ashram despite the vast and beautiful area surrounding them.
Lighting: There is strong contrast between the widow’s sari’s and their skin tones. This might be showing the purity the widow’s possess despite their name they are forced to carry with them their entire lives.
Colors: There is an overall blue and green overtone in all of the shots within the film. Mehta describes this as her way of getting the “water” feeling within the film, and also the overall sad state many of these women are living in.
Analysis:
Water portrays a strong sense of connection and sympathy towards all the women living in the ashrams. I believe this film has many feminist ideals within it, such as giving light to the social restrictions a certain group of women are forced to live under by the patriarchal laws and enforcement of these policies. Something I had an issue with is the possible misinterpretation of the Indian society Mehta is portraying in the film. It does not give a full explanation of the culture and practices of India, which could give the audience a false idea of Indian culture and history, and could possibly create a prejudice within them towards Indian culture as a whole.