I tried to believe there would be a romantic ending...

I have always known that the historic circulation of women as wives is an economic one. That married women still perform most of the world's unpaid labour attests to the economic necessity of having wives. "Water" is the story of Hindu widows, who according to religious tradition are taken to ashrams upon the deaths of their husbands. Widows are an economic burden that must be taken care of: long ago given away by their parents, the widows in Mehta's story have no option but to live a life of poverty and religious observation, they have no money and no means of earning it (except by begging and prostitution).

I watched Deepa Mehta's "Water" last weekend, her final installment in her controversial Indian trilogy. Having seen "Fire" and "Bollywood/Hollywood" [not part of the trilogy] I was expecting a slightly self-conscious foray into feminist-indo politics with a bittersweet but somewhat happy ending. Nestled in the tattered Princess Theatre seats, I reassured my girlfriends that Chuyia would be saved from certain molestation by Gandhi-loving Narayan, otherwise the story would be too taboo, too.... good. I was wrong; Mehta was right/good and the ending was mostly bitter, light on the sweet.

This film was amazing, and it had to be: Production was stalled for three years after shooting was shutdown by Hindu protesters. The film is a labour of love. The final product is lushly beautiful, the young female actor Sarala is a revelation. That I was still crying after the credits were finished rolling and the popcorn sweepers were politely shooing me out of the theatre says two things: 1. I always cry and I enjoy it 2. Mehta's culminating film is moving, routed in history and current politcs, and will resonate deeply with most viewers.

However, having watched Mireilles's "The Constant Gardner" and von Trier's "Breaking the Waves" earlier in the week, I could barely handle another story of women being subjected to violence, sexual abuse, and death related to water. There is only so much feminine self-sacrifice that I can ingest.

Skip "Breaking the Waves", von Trier's a misogynist nutcase still working out psychoanalytic angst. But I highly recommend "The Constant Gardner" and of course, "Water". But don't watch them back to back.