ScreenWize

Walking the complex line between social commentary and historical narrative with extreme delicacy, Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta concludes her three-part Elements trilogy with the exquisitely beautiful and emotionally charged story of a group of widows confined to an ashram in colonial India.

Delayed for more than five years by conservative Indian groups who objected to the films central theme (the set was burnt down), you would forgive the filmmaker for an unsympathetic representation of those who perpetuate the lives of Hindu widows, confined to a marginalised life of penitence and poverty, and unable to re-marry. Yet Mehta has found such a powerfully gentle voice with which to tell this story, and painted such touching and rounded characters, forgiveness gives way to wonder.

The story follows three main characters amongst a collection of women. Eight-year-old Chuyia is widowed without remembering her wedding, and is the newcomer to the community of outcasts. Her outspoken vivaciousness stirs up the dreary lives of the others, including Shakuntala who is trying to contain her own spiritual misgivings, and the beautiful Kalyani who unthinkably falls for the son of a high-caste Brahmin. Trying to keep a lid on the problems is the ashram’s cynical elderly leader Madhumati.
The cinematography is simply extraordinary and the light glows and shimmers through the blue-green sets like a liquid. Mehta’s confident command of the pace of the film allows time to get deeply involved with characters, and her cast provides a magnificent ensemble performance. If there is a weakness, it lies with the romance of the film which doesn’t sit so easily with the deep spiritual sentiment that pervades the language of the filmmaking. A must see, and a film that allows the complex cultural reality of these women’s lives to wash over you gently and with dignity.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon