"White"

Having seen Deepa Mehta's "Fire" and "Earth," I was wondering if I could sit through the whole of her film: "White." When I can go to the bathroom during a film and not feel I'm missing much, then I can safely say that I wasn't as much into the film than I would have wanted to be.

The film was shot with sets made for all the ghat and home scenes. Sri Lanka was where it was shot. The Ganges did not probably look that clean--even in 1938, which is the time frame for the film. The landscape--and particularly the water scenes--is pristine and forgiving. It is the law which is at stake. Maya plays apart in all of it. I'm not having any problems with the the themes of the film: woman's vs. man's rights, the laws making a widow a virtual shut-in and unable to marry again, etc.

Karma plays a large role in any film in about with without India. The chances of a widow falling in love again are explored--especially when the widow lost her beloved at age 9. This role is played by an Anglo-ish woman. It had me confused. This woman spoke great Hindi, so she might had one Indian parent. But she kept reminding me of the woman who gets most of the lines in the tv show 'Lost.'

The young girl of five who has just become a widow and the young lawyer are believable characters. The little girl does a really sweet job with the role. I suppose my main reason for having some sort of issue with the film was its melodramic leanings. When melodrama was absent, real substance could be run into.