Acclaimed contemporary Indian film-maker, Deepa Mehta, has produced three controversial and issue-based films, each dealing with elements of Indian society and culture which, to our westen sensitivity, seem backward, and simply wrong. As India becomes more and more westernised and our culture, behaviours and ideologies permeate their continent, Indian people are restless, and caught somewhere in a limbo state between their culture, religion and understanding of the world, and the younger generation's eagerness to embrace all that the west has to offer. (for better or for worse).
In the first of these three films, Fire, Mehta chooses the highly contentious subject of sexuality, specifically lesbianism, to shine a torch on India's narrow-minded and stereotypically masculine standpoint on sex and sexuality, as we approach the subject through another contentious issue of arranged marriages. For me, I think the most poignant moments of highlighting the attitudes towards sex and sxuality come though, not from lesbianism - the focal point and whole reason for the film - but instead from the more comedic vignettes of the house-servant watching porn DVDs on a small TV in the house in front of the elderly mother who can't move or speak due to her having a stroke, and uses a bell and facial expressions to convey her thoughts. The same TV is used by her to watch pious cultural Indian religious programmes, and throughout the film the same space is seen as both a place of male masturbation at hetero porn, and a place of religious sanctuary and staid 'unbreakable' Indian values.
Culturally this and the other two films are hugely important, and highlight differences in our understanding and cultures which might not otherwise have been obvious. The film is long, slow-moving, and claustrophobic; I would say deliberately so; but there were points in the film where I 'switched off' due to the lack of movement, narrative and pulse. With use of imagery, music and long periods of film without dialogue, it does allow the viewer to contemplate and 'meditate' on the issues - a very Indian way I guess...?! The two protagonists of Shabana Azmi (Radha) and Nandita Das (Sita) are excellently cast and the chemistry between them is quite electric - even watching it on a flat screen!
The build-up from a very gentle and unassuming friendhip to a realisation that they need each other far more than just friends, despite the societal backlash this will cause, is excellently measured. The final cathartic tragedy which ensues though is far less authentic and seems to come from a more Indian-style of cinema.
The background music is sometimes far too loud and distracting, but in general the locations and peripherals add to the film, and give a lovely insight to those who have never been to India, what the country is like and how the people are.
For me though the film only scratches the surface of this issue, and could have made much more out of the wearing of more modern / western clothes, the observance of religious fasting festivals, the liking of western Jackie Chan films, etc. There seemed to be so much to explore which was just left to fall by the wayside as we concentrated on what we already knew from the start was a doomed relationship.
I left the cinema wondering how this film would have differed if a) the director had been a Westerner and b) the director had been a male. I sensed throughout the film a kind of 'holding back' - a sense that Mehta was herself unsure that this was territory that she dared to explore and expose, and so despite it's boldness it came across as rather tentative. I say that though from a middle-aged, white, Western male perspective, and someone who has never travelled to India and knows little or nothing about their religion, culture and life-style. Definitely worth watching though, and coming to your own conclusions.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 11/9/19
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