MOVIE REVIEW: FIRE

This film was selected in the PlanetOut.com Movie Poll as one of the Top Ten Lesbian & Gay Films of 1997!

Fire sets the screen AFLAME!

It's not everyday that an Indian-born and educated filmmaker takes on the highly charged agenda of rocking the boat of gender role assumptions that so definitively structure what it means to be a woman in contemporary India; that is exactly what writer/director Deepa Mehta has done with her new film, Fire which unravels the story of two women, sisters-in-law trapped in loveless relationships in modern New Delhi. One is the dutiful well-weathered wife of a celibate eclectic, the other, the new bride of the eclectic's brother who is still embroiled in his own self-centered affair with his sex kitten of a mistress; the women turn to each other for companionship and find erotic pleasure and desire in their connection. The art direction is rich; the acting (led by Indian cinema diva, Shabana Azmi and the captivating Nandita Das) is enrapturing; and the sardonic humor borders on delightfully shocking to keep the viewer completely tantalized by the unfolding story. While there are certain tropes that wear thin by the end of the film, Mehta never goes overboard and it is easy to forgive a few overly melodramatic scenes, especially when they are so well balanced with tantalizing others. This is truly a must-see for feminists, queers and lovers of love alike.

--Mary Gray

1996, Canada)
Director: Mehta, Deepa
Starring: Shabana Azmi ; Nandita Das ; Alice Poon

(Photo: Amazon.com)

This film was selected in the PlanetOut.com Movie Poll as one of the Top Ten Lesbian & Gay Films of 1997!

Fire sets the screen AFLAME!

It's not everyday that an Indian-born and educated filmmaker takes on the highly charged agenda of rocking the boat of gender role assumptions that so definitively structure what it means to be a woman in contemporary India; that is exactly what writer/director Deepa Mehta has done with her new film, Fire which unravels the story of two women, sisters-in-law trapped in loveless relationships in modern New Delhi. One is the dutiful well-weathered wife of a celibate eclectic, the other, the new bride of the eclectic's brother who is still embroiled in his own self-centered affair with his sex kitten of a mistress; the women turn to each other for companionship and find erotic pleasure and desire in their connection. The art direction is rich; the acting (led by Indian cinema diva, Shabana Azmi and the captivating Nandita Das) is enrapturing; and the sardonic humor borders on delightfully shocking to keep the viewer completely tantalized by the unfolding story. While there are certain tropes that wear thin by the end of the film, Mehta never goes overboard and it is easy to forgive a few overly melodramatic scenes, especially when they are so well balanced with tantalizing others. This is truly a must-see for feminists, queers and lovers of love alike.

--Mary Gray

1996, Canada)
Director: Mehta, Deepa
Starring: Shabana Azmi ; Nandita Das ; Alice Poon

(Photo: Amazon.com)