Water

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Movielover
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Post by Movielover »

Very good points, Damien. I guess it is a flaw of my movie-watching technique to just accept things as the director tells us. I asked those questions for a split second and moved on, but perhaps I should be more demanding to know certain things.
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Post by Reza »

Big Magilla wrote:Though some of the questions are unclear, the overwhelming thrust of the story is not. That this opression is still taking place in modern India is shocking.
This is exactly why this film was shot in Sri Lanka. Mehta started shooting the film some years before in Varanasi, India with a completely different cast led by Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das - both of whom shaved their heads for their roles. However, the film production came to a halt because of massive protests by the local administration. The cast and crew were threatened and Mehta was forced to cancel the shoot.

Men wore their hair in that style in many parts of India at that time. Hence Abraham's hairstyle!
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Post by Big Magilla »

I've not seen Fire and Earth, but after seeing Water want to.

Though some of the questions are unclear, the overwhelming thrust of the story is not. That this opression is still taking place in modern India is shocking.
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Post by Damien »

Saw it last summer. Liked it, didn't love it. It's heartfelt and moving and intriguing, but director Deepak Mehta’s handling of an emotion-packed narrative is strangely detached (and the pacing also a bit sluggish).

I also found that the societal set-up and the basic operations of the widows' ashram were not clear. Who is paying for its operation, are the women forced to stay or is it volunteer, why does Ray have a nice private apartment and long hair, how does Manorma get away with whoring some of the women? Also, the period details are very poorly done – first and foremost, John Abraham’s haircut. (Although as others here have pointed out, he’s a dreamboat.) Giles Nuttgens’s cinematographer is understatedly beautiful.
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Post by Precious Doll »

Movielover,

Have you seen Fire (1996) and Earth (1998)?

I liked Water but didn't think the romantic plotline worked very well. The scenes involving the widows living in poverty were far more effective.

However in Fire and in Earth the Deepa Mehta intertwines the personal and the political far more successfully.
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Post by Movielover »

Just saw Water last night. I'm speechless. What a brilliant film! It is no surprise to me at all that this made it in the top five. Every frame was beautiful. Speechless, I tell you!
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