“Deepa Mehta’s Water is a magnificent film. The ensemble acting of the women in the widows’ hostel is exceptional: intimate, painful, wounded, jaundiced, corrupted, tender, tough. The fluid lyricism of the camera provides an unsettling contrast to the arid difficulties of the characters’ lives. The film has serious, challenging things to say about the crushing of women by atrophied religious and social dogmas, but, to its great credit, it tells its story from inside its characters, rounding out the human drama of their lives, and unforgettably touching the heart.”

“Water combines a humanist message, political courage and visual poetry in a way not seen since the death of Satyajit Ray. It is the finest Indian film for a generation.”

“The film is lovely in the way Satvaiit Ray’s films are lovely. It sees poverty and deprivation as a condition of life, not an exception to it, and finds beauty in the souls of its characters.”

“Water takes us back to a shocking world that, more shockingly still, has not entirely vanished.”

“Director Deepa Mehta has concocted a potent mix of politics, historical conflict, religion and philosophical questioning... Mehta weaves a compelling tale with cinematic beauty and spoken wit…”

“It was worth the wait – and the fight – to immerse ourselves in this Water… this is a major work by a major filmmaker…”