My hubby chose this one from the library to watch for one of our date nights after the girls were in bed. He ended up going to bed about half way through because he was tired of reading subtitles.
I, on the other hand, made it through the entire movie. It was an extremely well put together movie, subtitles and all. The ending left me heartbroken and lost in my loneliness. Should not have watched this movie while my girls were at their grandma's for the night. Won't ruin the ending by telling you why. I'll just leave that as a warning for all of you moms out there. Make sure you can go and watch your monkeys sleep after watching this movie.
The movie is based in India in the 1930s. They married off their daughters at the age of seven. (My eldest is almost 7.) They got these young girls all dressed up in all these fancy duds. Threw a huge party where they celebrated all around town. And ended the night with a huge feast with tons of sweets. What little girl wouldn't love that sort of a party.
The movie is about how the people of India treated their widows. They believed that when the man died, half of the woman died with him. These women are given 3 options. The first is that their family can allow them to stay in the household. The second is that they can die with their husband. The third is to be placed into a special home for only widows. Widows were believed to be unwhole and thereby unclean. Some even believed them to be unpersons. The lecherous men of the time believed it to be good fortune to be able to have sex occasionally with a widow.
The movie follows a young girl of 7 whose husband has passed away. Her parents choose to place her in a widow's home. She isn't given any explanation as to why she was there and why her parents were leaving her there. The widows in the home explain it to her and help to ease her pain and make her feel at home. This girl changes the life of these women and brings a bright light into some of their lives.
It's a movie about love, life, and how we see each other. It's about treating people as God's creations and not as objects. It's about protecting and loving the people in our lives.
I won't ruin the movie for you by telling you any more about the movie. It's a good watch.
