1996 - FIRE, a pioneering film about women in India

An extremely controversial film set in India in the 1990's.  This film's notoriety comes from being one of the first films to feature a lesbian relationship in an Indian film.  Apparently the male dominated society was not pleased with this film to put it mildly.  About the last thing Indian conservatives wanted was to have a discussion about gender and gay rights.

I do think protestors kind of missed the point of this film.  While the lesbian relationship is certainly present, it's actually handled fairly discretely.  The theme of Fire is really about the very repressive role of women in Indian society at the time this was filmed.  Of course you could probably make a good argument that women's rights in lots of countries aren't really what could be called on an equal footing with men.

The story, two women who have married into a family aren't exactly thriving on a personal or emotional level.  Sita, is married to a man named Jatin who is involved in an intense affair with a Chinese women who he is really in love with.  Jatin only married Sita as part of an arranged marriage.  The other sister in law Rhada, married to Jatin's brother Ashok can't have children.  This has caused Ashok to embrace the teaching of a religious leader who advocates the complete suppression of any kind of sexual desire.  Sita and Rhada while married are basically indentured servants to these two brothers.

The film was directed by a woman Deepa Mehta who was born and raised in India and eventually ended up living in Canada.  In fact Fire was partially financed with Canadian money.  The film has a nice feel for Indian culture.  The performances of the entire cast are at a high level and for a rather low budget film it's very well made and looks very good.  Fire is one of the more accessible dramas I have seen come out of India.

Deepa Mehta wrote the screenplau, the running time is  

1987 - GANDAHAR, another interesting science fiction film from René Laloux

Another visually striking science fiction film from Rene Laloux.  Gandhar has a fascinating story and at times some weird visuals.  It's the third and final feature for Laloux which had been preceded by Fantastic Planet and Time Masters.

 Gandahar's story is set in a future earth like planet inhabited by a female lead ruling council.  The council's scientists has developed a sophisicated organic technology over a more machine based approach in their daily existence.  One day Gandahar comes under attack by some robotic men who appear to be programmed to destroy Gandaharian society.  Needless to say the organic science is no match for the robot men.  Sent out by the ruling council, Sylvain, one of Gandahar's agents is tasked with learning the secret of the robot men and stopping them if possible

 

Simply put the film just looks interesting from a design point of view. The creatures featured in this film have fascinating looks to them particularly a race of mutants.  The animation is little more fluid than the animation in Fantastic Planet and the story moves along without any slow spots.   Definitely worth a look for science fiction fans not scared off by the animated film format.  This film also exists in an English version called The Light Years which replaced the original French music soundtrack with a more American sounding score.  It's probably best to stick to the original film.

 Gandahar was written by Rene Laloux, the running time is 79 minutes.