water

the other weekend i watched "water" by deepa mehta, which i'd been looking forward to for a while, as the film is the latest in mehta's "elements" trilogy that also includes "fire" and "earth" -- two of my favorite movies! "water" remained unfinished over several years because of protests, but then finally came out in 2005 and i've been trying to get a hold of it since.

...who knew it was all on youtube?! here's part 1:

see: part 2-part 3-part 4-part 5-part 6-part 7-part 8-part 9-part 10 (credits)

From the courageous and provocative filmmaker Deepa Mehta comes WATER, the profoundly moving and compellingly vibrant story of India’s “widow houses,” where women of all ages are taken to live (even today) apart from society following the deaths of their husbands. Sprinkled with humor, rife with universal emotions and alive with visual excitement, the story of WATER follows three widows who dared to stand up for themselves in the liberating times of Mahatma Gandhi. Seven years in the making, WATER was nearly undone by fierce political controversy when the film’s India-based production triggered violent protests by Hindu fundamentalists and was forced to shut down and remount the production – years later, under a shroud of secrecy in the neighboring country of SriLanka. But at the film’s debut, opening the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, Mehta’s unflinching and passionate filmmaking resulted in a rousing standing ovation and critical acclaim. “After making WATER, I feel I could retire. That is how satisfied I am,” Mehta said at the time.

& more from mehta (interviewed by salman rushdie) - start video @2:30 min: