Deepa Mehta Saltzman, John Abraham, Kulbhushan Kharbanda
The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social r...( read more
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DVD Release Date: August 29, 2006
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Stats: 2,129 reviews
Flixster Reviews (2,129)
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March 29, 2009An important film to see if not all that good, just barely socially conscious and iconoclastic enough to overcome its lack of a coherent story. This is very sensitive filmmaking and the acting (particularly the child actor Sarala) is quite good, but the film is hard to watch due ...( read more)
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June 13, 2007Obviously a one-sided answer but so irresistably convincin, I can almost empathise. I'd give it 5 stars if I weren't such a misogynist. My favourite bit was "A woman who suffers long after her husband dies will go to heaven and an unfaithful wife shall be reborn from the womb of ...( read more)
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June 4, 2007It was a very good movie. It has a very interesting story, very touching and emotional, a view of how ancient hindu traditions are still standing and how people live with them and the repercussions in their life. It has a solw rythm but that doesn't mean that its a boring film. A...( read more)
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November 17, 2009non tanto realistico. perņ, girato a Varanasi, con un background bellissimo <3 un dramma vissuto molto tranquillamente, direi. non manca l'apparizione del figone di turno (Abraham)
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October 16, 2009This was a good film to watch, because I had no idea of anything about the way widows are treated. It's just shocking because it's so far removed from the culture that I'm used to. As a great film, it just wasn't up there, but it did bring an important issue to light.
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June 1, 2009very beautiful story which explain the difficult situation of women in india... Very strong film,I love it
Critic Reviews
May 12, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
May 5, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The film is lovely in the way Satyajit Ray's films are lovely. It sees poverty and deprivation as a condition of life, not an exception to it, and finds beauty in the souls of its characters. full review
May 1, 2006
Marcy Dermansky, About.com
[C]aptivating from the very first frame to the last. full review
April 28, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post
... the incessant references to Gandhi keep gumming up the class-war love story. full review
Comments
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July 21, 2006Seeing what these women had to endure/endured all these years, prompts us to think how lucky we are - not to assume/take for granted the goodness and abundance we so readily have. The struggles/problems we may have compared to their grievous hardship sure makes one rethink - putting things in perspective. The film is not preachy at all, in fact, it's dramatic with mystery and secrets, not depressive in spite of the storyline but contains dashes of hope, laughter and tender moments. An impressive production all round, with cinematography by Giles Nuttgens, who collaborated with w-d Mehta on her trilogy installments: FIRE 1996 and EARTH 1998; music complements from Mychael Danna, who participated with w-d Mira Nair in "Monsoon Wedding" and "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love" and on fellow Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's ventures.
The film, with its controversial political ripples 'at home', is a human story with much kindness at heart. It's intriguing and a tear-jerker for me - it's naturally emotional. Somehow WATER also reminds me of director Jag Mundhra's "Bavandar" (2000, India: Hindi title aka "The Sand Storm") - another worthwhile film from India.
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