Title here in France : La saison des femmes (=women's season)
Score : 9.5/10
Year : 2015 (Toronoto & Stokholm festivals) ; 2016 (France & Mexico at least)
Country: India. UK. USA.
Language: Hindi
Duration: 1h56
Parched is a powerful movie about women's empowerment as it takes place in a village in Gujarat, India, where society lives by age-old patriarchal traditions.
It deals with an ever present misogyny, subjugation and hopes for liberation... which can still happen in some rural areas of India - albeit not everywhere.
Before I detail the movie, Trigger warnings about content : physical and verbal abuse, rape, and emet triggers - see at mid-section, between review and in the media.
The review :
In Parched, the destinies of 4 women are intertwined : Rani, Lajjo, Bijli & Janaki.
Their struggles are of two natures : their societal positions, and their need for freedom from these predetermined positions as wives, child bearers and cooks, in the service of men : their husbands, as well as the village's elders who sit on the council and decide everything the village and its people can and cannot do.
These decisions, as I alluded to, are all rooted in patriarchal traditions and religious beliefs - with their positives, and so many negative effects - especially on women, and how both women and men learn to behave in such a society, and at home.
On the one side, women must submit wholly to their husbands : they have to prepare and serve the food (domestic servitude), but also fulfill their sexual desires and bear children as early as possible - even in their teens.
As for the men, some can be benevolent and open-minded, even progressive - two of the men characters are such men.
However, many men in this movie exhibit some of the worst flaws a society in crisis can create - between traditions and a limited progress as modern tools from the 'more developed countries'' have been slowly arriving to remote areas of India, and thriving ''attractions'' which enslave women and make some men very rich at their expense.
The four main characters in Parched are women of varying ages, and who talk about subjects such as men, sex and life in general.
As the story evolves, one sees the weight of patriarchal value systems and how it can affect everyone.
As you can understand, this is a heavy topic, and I find it extremely hard to review this movie, because it's almost like a documentary : yes, it's a fiction, but it's not all that far from a certain reality...
That said, I'll repeat that it's not meant as an image of the sole truth in India : some progress has been made, but there are many places where these are real issues (much like in ''developed countries'').
The cinematography reflects the tone of this movie, alternating between very dark scenes in the penumbras or at night, and the Indian landscapes bathing in bright sun.
There is a parallel drawn between the local religious beliefs, with mythical events in the background of the story unfolding.
The acting is superb, and these women really moved me. I can tell you that aside for a friend of mine and myself, 5 elderly women came to watch it in the theater and I heard some gasps - either to some scenes of abuse (yes I must tell you, because it might be a trigger, and it's emotionally difficult to watch), or the nude scenes- which were done very artistically and with a lot of taste, so not to make this exploitation.
In spite of this, I thing it'd be a Rated-R movie in view of all the topics and those few scenes I mentioned.
The costuming very realistic, using rags for daily life, or more lavish outfits for the richer, or special days.
The music was a mix, almost like a Bollywood movie, but more modern. However, I didn't care for the auto-tune disco songs accompanying the dance routines of one of the characters, thus reducing my overall appreciation.
As it turns out, I would watch it again- not so soon, as it's quite heavy. (update : it took me 4 and half years to be ready).
Starring : Tannishta Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Lehar Khan, Mahesh Balraj, Adil Hussain, et al.
Triggering contents :
Several scenes show a man verbally and physically abuse his wife. Some are off-screen, some happen more visibly, and may trigger. They are emotionally difficult to watch.
In one scene towards the end (at about 1h34 into the movie on the french dvd), a character is raped by 3 men, disturbing, despite the edit cutting between this scene and another occurring elsewhere - which actually adds heaviness, as another character is experiencing a traumatic flashback of her abuse, so this back and forth between these scenes is a bit lengthy - just under 3 minutes of the most disturbing portion of the movie.
In another, this is the emet trigger, albeit short, happens around 1h19 into the movie, again on the french dvd).
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Update 27/10/2016 & 19/01/2021
Parched... in the medias
I realized this morning that our media library has received a copy of the French edition DVD and decided to update this blog entry, telling you all about the various editions of Parched.
I'll start with said French edition - EAN 3542020042595, released on 20/09/2016 by Pyramide vidéo.
Image : 16/9, in color.
The movie is in original languages (Hindi & English), in 2.0 & 5.1 (Dolby digital sound), and offers only French subtitles.
Bonus :
Interviews with Leena Yadav (director - 23 minutes)
& with the team (another 11 & half minutes), as well as
Making of (9 minutes)
The dvd is zone 2 (locked).
Though French amazon announces 1h49, the duration of this edition is 1h52.
In contrast, the American version - EAN 0754703764423 - released 8/09/2016 by Wolfe video is announced at full 1h56, offering the movie in (also 2.0 according to one website) 5.1 (also dolby digital), English subtitles with the following bonuses:
Behind the scenes featurettes,
Interviews
Trailers
(for which I'll have to find more details, including their duration)
The dvd seems region 1 locked.
The German edition should be released on 24/02/2017, with EAN 4260456580310- and offer - according to amazon.de - a 5.1 German dub additionally to native Hindi & English speech, but, again according to the same source, should be only 1h52- I presume some censorship, or error, or slight sped-up pressing, but I don't really know for sure.
It'll carry the title Die zeit der frauen (the time of women, similar to the French one, which was season of women), with an identical image so I'll spear you doubling my text.
I have no details about bonus material.
I won't suggest the Spanish dvd edition, as I have read only negative comments about every single movie I ever check.
The bluray from India, EAN 8903539070884, released by Reliance Entertainment on 21/12/2016 is region free, seems devoid of bonuses but presented in 16:9 anamorphic format, in full duration 1h58, in Hindi with English subtitles.
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