Watermovie

P. came home with this film the other night. We really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful story about three women (one is actually a spunky little girl) who live in a widow's tribe--like a convent--in India. They are supposed to live lives of spiritual devotion and poverty, though, unlike most Catholic nuns, they do not enter into the life by choice; the youngest girl is widowed at nine and at first can't understand why she's being sent away; she doesn't even remember being married.

The film is first of all a well-told, well-acted story (subtitled!!) of which a love story is no small element. The filming itself and the music are also great, I thought. But the film also brought some really interesting issues to my attention, one of them being this idea of putting widows away in colonies. Before the film came out, it was heavily protested (by people who had read a false script) for being anti-Hindu; the film's production was even shut down and the director's image burned in effigy.

Anyway, we liked it. Though be forewarned: though much of the film made me smile, it definitely has devastating parts; and though "clean" and not graphic at all, at least one plot element is quite disturbing. But the end made me cry (me!!) in a not-necessarily-sad way, so all in all I recommend it. (I'm trying not to give everything away here...sorry for the vagueness!)