Cultural/Spiritual Perspective: Water

There is not a better movie to analyze under a cultural or spiritual perspective then Water. This movie, while slow pace kept me very interested because I was in shock about how poorly widows are treated in India. From the start of the film we understand how crucial and serious these values are to the Indian culture. The opening scene expresses the "rules/ideas" of a Hindu widow. It is a powerful opening scene of a black background, and white text of these rules. It is believed in their spiritual belief of Hinduism that a woman is incomplete without a man. This value is portrayed in the film, as Narayan's mother believes he must marry in order to start his life. One of the characters, I forget who, states this spiritual belief and says, "The Holy Book says wife is part of husband". Culturally, this film brings light the cast system of India. Widows are untouchables, and at the lowest of the system. We see this in the film as they are looked down upon, not allowed to remarry, and have to give up their entire lives to become what society believes a widow should be. The image that struck me the most (couldn't find a picture of it online) was Chuyia getting her head shaved. You see this innocent, young child having to completely throw away her life and family to conform to the cultural values. This film could not be understood without being able to analyze both the spiritual and cultural values of India.