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Water

The movie "Water" tells the profoundly moving story of Chuyia, an Indian girl widowed at eights years of age. Eight years old, my God, i thought the Costa Ricans were bad ( i have a Costa Rican friend who got married at 15 and it wasn't even an arranged one. Its just tradition). Chuyia was married to an older sickly man, who died shortly after marriage. She was unceremoniously returned home only to be sent away again to the Widows house in the holy city of Banaras where she is left in the care of other widows condemned to live the rest of their lives in penitence. How coy is that? Chuyia in her tender age didn't quite understand why she was being subject to the life of a Hindu Widow especially in the beginning. I suppose it would be difficult for any 8 year old from any country to understand. Chuyia believed that one day her mother was going to pick her up, unaware that according to 'Hindu Holy Scriptures' she was to live the rest of her life there. See if a husband dies, the widow has three options: One, to marry her husband's younger brother, if his family permits; two, to kill herself on his funeral pyre; three, to live a life of celibacy and solitude. She chose the latter... But her fiery personality and her inability to understand the Hindu ways, persistently questioned their fate. Soon her feisty presence and persistent questioning seeped through the other residents, forcing them to confront their faith and society's prejudices...

Perhaps an even more intriguing story is the sub-plot. Chuyia befriends one of the resident widows named Kalyani, the house's beautiful free-thinking widow, whom herself widowed at the tender age of 9. Chuyia and Kalyani (beautiful names by the way) in one of their walks with their dog Kaalu along the banks of the Holy River, met a handsome affluent young man named Narayan, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and a non-believer of the old Manu ways. Narayan falls in love with Kalyani and wants to marry her despite his mothers protest. Even though a new Law permits a widow to remarry, it wasn't a popular choice amongst traditionalist. The Hindu faith is so strong that even the mere mention of deviating from the life of a widow causes disdain. On the day Kalyani crosses the river to meet Narayans parents in their family estate, Kalyani recognizes the house she had been forced to visit as a prostitute by the house of widows. This disturbing revelation forces Narayan to determine how much he really loves Kalyani...

This was simply a beautiful movie... A story so magnificent that it had me raving about it the next day at work. "Profoundly moving" as described in the movie synopsis couldn't have been truer too. If you think about it, the movie had a boring premise (...Hindu and sub-titled come on!) but what it lacked in plot-excitement it made up in poignant film making. From start to finish i was enthralled with Chuyias innocence, feistiness, and perhaps even her yearning to understand her fate which would seem to be a Sisyphean task.... Kalyani was beautiful as she was touching and daring. Although her desire to leave behind the life fate had bestowed upon her was forbidden, you get the feeling that she was going to do whatever it took to attain it, even if it meant undermining their impeccable faith. The movie was set in the 1930's against Ghandis rise to power, his tryst with the British, as well as his battles to change the traditions that bind the Hindus...

Ebert and Roper gave it their respected "Two Thumbs UP" while Time Magazine called it "A triumph". I agree on both accounts...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Friday, September 15, 2006