The two films that I shall be discussing in this essay are, ‘Water (2005)’, directed by Deepa Mehta and ‘Chungking Express (1994)’, directed by Wong Kar-wai. ‘Water’ and ‘Chungking Express’ are two very well-known Asian films. However, they are both set in two completely different era’s in time. Firstly, ‘Water’ is set in a 1930’s India still under British rule and the second ‘Chungking Express’, in a postmodern city. We can see comparisons in both films in terms of gender. However, there are also many contrasts between these two films in terms of the representation of gender. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the representations of gender in both ‘Water’ and ‘Chungking Express’.
In the opening scene of Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’,…show more content… There is no place in society for these women as their husbands are dead and remarrying someone at this time was completely a taboo subject. They are left to suffer. It is as if all their feminity and dignity is taken away from them. Their heads are shaven and their clothes are all the same and mundane. The women are ostracized as their husbands who have the dominating power over them are no longer around. It is as though they are not needed by society anymore. As Mukherjhee says, ‘None of these women are ever valorised for any talent as a women; as a wife; only their conjugal duties of loyalty, steadfast devotion to husbands, and affection to each husband are described at length’(Mukherjhee,1978:17). The character of Chuiya is eight years old and is now a widow. At eight years old, this child is left to live the rest of her days in recluse, living in poverty. She’ll never get to experience the true beauty of life. It is as if she is being punished for her husband’s death. Firstly she was forced into being a child bride, more than likely having no say in the matter, and now is left to live the rest of her days in the ashram because tradition deemed it as right. We see the character of Patiraji, who has been in the ashram since she was seven years old. In the film, she is in her eighties. We see her die in the ashram after spending more than seventy years living her life completely segregated from society. It is a though once a woman is left…show more content… I feel that both the female characters in ‘Chungking Express’ and the main protagonist of Chuiya in ‘Water’ are all strong women. Although Chuiya is just a young girl she is not afraid to speak her mind. Although a lot of the time her carry on ends up getting her in trouble, I feel she is a strong character that is very strong and independent beyond her years very much like the two female characters in ‘Chungking