Fire
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Movie Reviews of Fire
Movie Review: Amazing and deep
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is amazing. I watched as a young teen that just came out and was going through horrible [...] bashing. When I saw this I was thankful for at LEAST livbing in a world where MY emotions for women had a name. And though it may not have been 100% tolerated it certianly was called non exsistant. The director took alot of risks making this film. Its not your typical... fast pased and lots of making out [...] film. It is slow but its all symbolic and meaningful because it ties together whats happens. If you like indie flicks even if your arent into [...] film trust me this is a great one.Movie Review: Another Example of the Evils of Fundamentalist Religion
Summary: 4 Stars
Deepa Mehta's engaging film FIRE is by Western standards a very tame story about the love of two Indian Hindu women, the sisters-in-law Radha and Sita. Both are in loveless male-dominated arranged marriages with two insensitive men. They are part of an Indian extended family that includes an elderly matriarch who cannot speak because of a stroke but lets her wishes be made known often and loudly with the assistance of a hand bell. A servant, kinky enough to be a character of a Carson McCullers novel, completes this dysfunctional family.
The fire within the movie is nothing compared to the storm that erupted when the movie opened in Bombay. Middle-class men and enough women to bring shame to their species caused a riot, breaking glass, tearing down the advertisements for the film, etc. Not only do the two women in the film love each other, but they kiss, they have the fortitude to say no to boorish husbands, and their ultimate sin is that they are Hindu.
Too often the added footage to a DVD is actors and directors patting each other on their egotistical backs and should best be avoided. Not so in this instance. The interviews with the directors, the actors and the poor joker who had the misfortune to own the theatre that was attacked are included.
My one complaint about the film is that some of the characters' English is difficult to follow. Subtitles would have made the story unfold a lot more smoothly. Nevertheless, both the movie and commentary are not to be missed.
Movie Review: Twin Flames - Unite in Controversy
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many viewers I delayed seeing this film. I hesitated due to the subject matter and my possible reactions to it. However, curiosity won out and once I viewed it, I was thoroughly impressed with how Deepa Mehta so beautifully and artisically addressed so many social issues and taboos in her society of India. The story revolves around a traditional Indian household where modern life interferes with tradition - twisting it into knots which become even more tightly pulled together as the film develops. The man of the house Ashok is played by Kulbushan Kharbanda. He becomes a religious fanatic after it is discovered his wife can not conceive a baby. He has chosen to be celibate and a follower of a Hindu guru who teaches that by withholding sexual expression he will advance more quickly in his spiritual growth and come closer to discovering "truth". Ashok's younger brother, Jutin had agreed to an arranged marriage with the beautiful Sita. His true love is Julie, who is Chinese and very modern in her behavior. He felt she would not be accepted as his wife by his traditional family, so he entered into the marriage for the wrong reasons. Sita is welcomed into the household but soon learns Jutin has no interest in her. Sita is a young woman who has some modern ideas about personal freedom and expressing her needs and desires. When she and Jutin visit the Taj Mahal together, Jutin stays behind, near a building to smoke a cigarette. When Sita attempts to converse with him, he indifferently replies to her questions, exactly when the tour guide is describing how the Taj Mahal was built to honor the wife of a King due to his great love for her after she died. The contrast and symbolism is so clearn and evident. Sita has certain expectations about marriage and how a husband should behave towards his wife. They are very basic expectations, such as he should show an interest in her likes and dislikes and be gentle and kind ...
Through chance and fate, the two women of the household are thrown together to work in the family business, a restaurant where they cook take-out food. Each is wrapped up with her personal problems associated with their marriage. They share a common bond of friendship and eventually talk to each other about how they feel rejected by their husbands. They gradually develop a closeness which turns into a more intimate physical relationship. Initially, it makes both of them uncomfortable but the relationship continues to grow into something real. The film does not show any explicit physical behavior but implies it by showing the women together in bed ... Unfortunatly, the servant Mundu becomes aware of what is transpiring between them. He eventually reports it to Ashok.
I love how a Hindu religious story from the Ramayana about how a god tests the purity of his wife through fire is symbolically played out within this film to represent how the love between these two women is tested as the household disintegrates when many truths are revealed about different family members as well as the behavior of the servant Mundu. Even Biji, the mother-in-law who is honored and cared for by the two daughter-in-laws shows her disgust for their behavior by spitting in the face of one of them when she leans over to help Biji eat ...
This film explores what are true and authentic feelings between two people in an unacceptable relationship compared to the false expressions of the more acceptable relationships sanctioned by society. It exposes the imperfections and false behaviors associated with traditionally accepted roles. The main theme of the film is honesty in love, even a love that exists within a socially unacceptable situation ... between two women. Many false relationships are exposed. For instance, the superficial physical desires expressed between Jutin and his lover Julie, shows neither dared to defy tradition and express their true love by bringing their relationship out into the open. Ashok physically denies himself in the belief that he will attain a higher expression of truth and achieve a higher spiritual development as a result of his celibacy. In the end, only the courage of the two women remains after the household disintegrates when the truths which are hidden are revealed. While this film will not appeal to everyone, those with an open mind and curiosity about different expressions of love will find it to be a satisfying viewing experience. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Movie Review: FIRE review
Summary: 5 Stars
FIRE, like EARTH and WATER, is a powerful and rewarding film that explores the social and political history of India. Together, these films are a body of work that deserves a wider audience than the foreign films section of the local DVD library.Movie Review: Is Desire the root of all evil?Duty be damned!
Summary: 5 Stars
Writer/director Deepa Mehta's second installment in the trilogy of EARTH/FIRE/WATER again examines the plight of women ,this time in modern day India,concerning duty towards the husband vs the desire that arises inside.The desire in this film is that of two woman,both stuck in duty-bound lives full of thousands of years of tradition,who find complete love for the first time in each other.Deepa Mehta's films are quite deliberate and slowly paced,allowing the senses to be awakened properly.There is much silence and hesitant longing in her films, and the viewer must be aware that they will be slowly and deliberately drawn along at a very exacting pace.All of Mehta's movies are stunning in all ways.She is an absolute pioneer among film makers when it comes to her sensitivity towards women's issues.MEN....WOMEN....WATCH THESE FILMS AND LEARN!!!!Though Mehta's films are about the supression within the Indian culture,the same issues of religion/tradition and taboo confront each nation on the face of this Earth.Anyone who is teachable will learn scads about themselves through Mehta's touching portrayals that her characters endure to experience liberation of body,soul and spirit.