FIRE [DVD]

Fire... is a great story about the dynamics of freeing yourself from the sometimes unbearble chains of tradition. The hidden treasure in this story is the discovery that even the ones who seemingly hold the keys to the locks on these chains are themselves bound by them.With the third installment of this trilogy (Fire, Earth and Water) finally completed, I thought I would throw in my take on this wonderful movie. In short this is a study that proves my understanding that everyone in this life needs attention and everyone seeks it and obtains it in their own way...sometimes without regard for themselves, others, their traditions, or for the society in which they live.Until Radha and Sita connect in spirit, each lacks in the fulfillment of knowing their value, self worth, purpose, potential for happiness or the warmth of intimacy that any human desires. Unfortunately too often too many fail to realize this need until it is too late. For Sita and Radha, they manage to break through the veil of oppression and do so because of their new found selves. Sita, too young to go gentle into that dreariest of dreary life, and Radha who long ago accepted her fate as a wife filled with guilt instead of life, must embrace each other to feel themselves and their worth...and their desires. How inspirational!Truly this discovery has nothing to do with the sexual side of the relationship. This is not about being lesbians...which I am. For some lesbians this is precisely the thread that draws us to another. It's about needing to feel alive. In which case we are no different than anyone else. Neither are Sita and Radha.But if it were about sex, which it is not, in truth sexual desire has been a driving catalyst for many fairy tales, wars and the sole inspiration of many conquerors. Why shouldn't it be the same for these two? They have conquered the norm through tremendous risk. Not unlike Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, they are brought back to life with a kiss. It is a revelation for both women. They desire life. Isn't that what any of us wants? A desire to live and feel...not just exist.In Hindu tradition, even after walking through the fire to prove her purity and faithfulness...Ram still send his love away...and it breaks his heart to do so. The truth is that she has proven to be too pure of heart. A purity that even he was not wirthy of. Radha walks through the fire of her life, survives and is cleansed by the rain. It is predictable but still poetic.I love all of the characters in this story. From the muted bell-ringing- see all grandmother to the hopelessly in-love self-pleasuring saboteur servant. It is all poetic because in life the flicker of flames and pangs of desire are, in all their pain and glory, poetry.It's just a story but I believe it to be very inspiring.

All too often when a film is billed as "controversial" and dealing with "taboo" subjects and (uh-oh) "lesbian love," it turns out to be just another soft porno exploitation flick for the amusement of male viewers. Now that is what I call ho-bloody-hum (ahem, Mr Maltin). This film is a blessed relief from that genre.Although sexuality is openly portrayed and discussed in the film, intimacy between the two female protagonists is handled tastefully and without that nasty overtone of voyeuristic exploitation. Leonard Maltin, useful though his reviews are, has a history of getting really defensive (and dismissive) about films with any feminist content. If overbearing patriarchal authority is honestly and accurately portrayed, he's liable to diss the film as unfair to men. Notably he has very little to say about insulting or belittling roles for *female* actors!I thought this was a good-hearted film, honestly challenging and critical of male privilege and selfishness, yet also extending compassion and dignity to its male as well as female characters. Even the nastiest person in the film (the unfortunate servant) is not treated with genuine contempt by the scriptwriter or director. Everyone gets his or her day in court; we feel a little sympathy with every character at least once or twice.It's also a sensitive and poignant portrait of the cost of tradition, and the cost of defying tradition. The violence and controversy it sparked in the conservative Hindu state of Maharashtra are documented in the "extras"; more than anything else, the ability of this film to panic conservative forces, and thereby elicit mob violence, speaks to its power and lasting value as a challenge to institutions that (however benign they may seem on the surface) keep women down.

This is perhaps the worst service i have ever had through amazon! The copies were horrible, one didnt even play and another was missing subtitles. It took far too long to have them shipped, and they were defective when they finally got to me. I have been trying to fix this over the past 2 and a half months and am now out of an additional $15 worth of shipping because i had to send the package back to india. I lost the tracking number so the seller doesnt believe that i sent it back. 32 emails have passed between us and usually he refers to me as sir and is not very professional. Never buy from this seller!

Fire is a very classy movie. Deepa Mehta has directed a touching, sensual, exotic (for those of us in the West) and controversial film that is, without a doubt, one of the best lesbian love stories ever filmed. But it's more than that. It's a story about the plight of women in a deeply sexist and repressive Indian society. Two beautiful women - Shabana Azmi as Radha and the stunning Nandita Das as the young Sita - meet and bond over their loveless marriages. That they also fall in love, become lovers and have the courage to break free of their cultural chains proved extremely confronting for many Indian men on the film's release. Violent demonstrations and death threats against the director followed.Perhaps if the movie were not so powerful, it wouldn't have been so threatening. Then again, the mere idea of women who do not need men is still revolutionary in many countries. For those of us in more liberal societies, the film is quite an education in a culture rife with conflict between traditional attitudes and contemporary behaviour. The acting is excellent, the humour unexpected, the spirit of these women exhilarating. I've watched Fire many times over the 14 years since its release, and it doesn't date. This is one to treasure.If you love Fire like I do, Nandita Das is just as charming in Earth, another of the films in Mehta's Elements trilogy - about the partition of India and Pakistan. She's an outstanding find, and Deepa Mehta is one classy filmmaker.

This is an exceptional movie created by an exceptional and very courageous woman. It tells the story of two unhappily married women in India and how they deal with the deprivation of human touch, love, and friendship from their spouses. It is a wonderful depiction of customs, tabo's and humanity in a world where women have very little autonomy, independence. A world ruled by men where women are lonely and live to serve. This is a story of love and sensuality among two women who crave acknowledgement and friendship. It is NOT a hollywood movie, rather a film and I highly recommend it.

A daring movie for India. For any country really, but especially for a country like India where the issue of female homosexuality was a big taboo in the mid-1990s and it still is. We learn a lot about an India which travelers hardly ever read of hear about, let alone see with their own eyes. It is an optimistic movie, in the end the right of the women to pursue their own path to happiness wins the day.The pace of the movie is deliberate, with no rush and no slack, it is just right. We are taken into the home of a traditional Indian family where the modern lifestyle of one young husband contrasts with the stale tradition of another husband of a generation earlier. Both neglect their women and this brings the two ladies together more than they would ever have planned. It is ultimately a movie about freedom and love, not necessarily a movie about male chauvinism in India.It is also a movie about changing India: millenary traditions crumble under the impact of modernity, and the movie suggests that this is a necessary transformation for the country.This movie is one of three sometimes referred to as the "Elements Trilogy" by Mehta, including "Water" and "Earth".

Peccato che non sia in italiano! Tuttavia se ne può gustare ugualmente il significato, le bellissime immagini, le musiche; la posizione della donna in India, nell'India di oggi, è focalizzata dalla regista con acuta sensibilità e delicatezza, come anche nell'altro suo film che pure ho acquistato, ugualmente drammatico: "water"Ottimo rapporto qualità/prezzo del prodotto, spedizione puntualissima. Più che soddisfatta

Die junge Site wird Opfer einer arrangierten Ehe und damit Mitglied einer Familie mit Tradition. Ihr Mann darf sich frei einer anderen Geliebten hingeben, während sich Sita vernachlässigt diesen Traditionen stellen muss. Ihre Schwiegermutter Radha und der Familien-Fastfoodbetrieb sorgen zunächst für etwas Abwechslung.Je mehr Zeit sie zusammen verbringen, desto intensiver werden ihre Gefühle und Berührungen zueinander.In diesen wenigen Filmminuten werden wunderschöne Bilder und eine gefühlvolle Liebesgeschichte kunstvoll zusammen gebracht.Trotz erheblicher (indischer) Gegenwehr verfilmt Deepa Mehta die Probleme der indischen Gesellschaft, wobei ich hier die weiteren Filme ihre elementaren Arbeit!!! Earth und Water anmerken möchte.Bin auftretenden Nebenwirkungen diesen Film einfach mehrfach ansehen!!Es hilft.

Another gem by director Deepa Mehta. A gripping portrait of what life can/has to be for women in India. Affection was, and maybe still is, forbidden. The storyline is straight to the point without becoming a pamflet. Superb acting by all. You will remember this film for a long time.