Water

We saw Deepa Mehta's Water last night. The film takes place in the 1930's in the holy city of Varanesi and is about women who were forced to enter "widow houses" after their husbands died and to live lives of deprivation and despair. The youngest widow, Chuyia, is just 8 years old and is as feisty as can be. Most of the residents of the compound are ground down by their life of poverty. Kalyani, a beautiful young woman, is not like the others. She has let her hair grow, in stark contrast to the shaved heads of the other widows, and she looks like a western film star. (Her glamour is the weak point of the movie, in my opinion). She's been a widow since the age of nine and yet shows no physical effects of her hard life. She's been forced into prostitution to support the other widows. Despite all odds she meets and falls in love with a handsome young Brahmin who loves her too. (I found this subplot to be distracting - two gorgeous star-crossed lovers blah, blah, blah.Others might think this romance is the best thing about the movie, I don't.)
This is a time of great upheaval in India and Gandhi, as well as advocating independence, is bringing about a new way of looking at things, including the tradition of shunning widows.
The ostracism of widows is still common in India, about 20,000 of them beg for alms along the Ganges in India's two holiest cities; this film rallies support for their plight. It is to Mehta's credit that she went on to complete the film despite receiving death threats.
Oh, and did I mention that I loved the movie? Great soundtrack, beautiful colours, fascinating story.