Earth DVD – DVD, April 15, 2003

`Earth' is the second film in Deepa Mehta's cinematic trilogy consisting of `Fire' (1997), `Earth' (1999) and `Water' (2006). Like `Fire' preceding it, `Earth' provides an uncompromising examination into an aspect of Indian culture that many would rather not acknowledge. However unlike the first film, an important historical event is the backdrop for a storyline dealing with the subject matter of interfaith love and friendship and how frightening, monumental occurrences can forever change you into something, or someone you never thought you could become.That monumental event is the 1947 partition separating Pakistan and India which brought about massive upheaval and relocation amongst the Hindi, Muslim and Sikh communities. Deepa Mehta examines the drastic changes about to occur within the microcosm of a small group of friends comprised of three Muslims, two Hindus, and one Sikh. Besides just being friends there is also a deeper emotion current involved in this dynamic since one Hindu member of the group, Shanta (Nandita Das), happens to be a very attractive female who becomes the romantic prey of two of the hormone driven Muslims, Dil Navaz (Aamir Khan) and Hassan (Rahul Khanna).At first the banter within the group is playful and good natured and they look at the growing cultural and religious divide growing around them day by day with bemused incredulity. However as violence between Hindu-Muslim & Sikh break out on the streets the dynamic of the group changes with it. Some desperately try to maintain the bonds of friendship while others are drawn by the divisive events of the day.The same is true for the competition between Dil Navaz, and Hassan. Soon it is no longer a friendly competition between rivals to win Shantas' heart. One will change forever and become a product of the terror and violence brought on by impending partition, bringing the violence into the most sacred inner circle of what was supposed to be lasting friendships.

Earth, by Deepa Mehta is a historical and interesting portrayal of partition, which happened in August in 1947. Partition was the work of the British rule over India, and their divide and conquer technique of rule. As they decided to give the power to the people they had one last controversy they had to put in place. Their last action in power was to separate India into Muslim (Pakistan) and Hindu (India) countries. Once put in place, chaos and massacre rose amongst the once peaceful people. Over 15 million people were forced to move to unknown territories, while many were killed. Deepa Mehta's film, which is based on this tragedy, portrays this horror through the story of an 8 year old girl named Lenny. The film is set in the city of Lahore, which ended up in Pakistan but saw much of the violence. The girl's family is not biased toward either side since they are of the religion Parsee, neutral in this fight. Lenny's family is a rather rich family and has many servants of different beliefs. Lenny has a warm and loving family and a life free of care. Her caretaker, Ayah Shanta, is a beautiful young Hindu girl. From the beginning, it is obvious that she is popular with the men which causes much jealousy and eventually her death in the end. Life is good for the characters until the separation movement is put in place. As the day of action grows nearer, tension grows more and more within the town. Good friends engage in harsh political debates of separation and threats. Ice Candy Man, one of the men fighting for Ayah's love, is driven into depression when his sisters are killed on a train trying to reach Lahore before the day of separation. Then when his marriage offer is turned down and Ice Candy Man sees Ayah with Hasan, another Muslim, Ice Candy Man is driven to insanity for revenge on all Hindus, including Ayah. When a mob of blood thirsty Muslims headed by Ice Candy Man comes to Lenny's house, the parents of Lenny try to protect Ayah by saying she has left. Lenny, deceived by Ice Candy Man tells him the truth of Ayah's whereabouts. After realizing what she has done, Lenny watches as her nanny is dragged away by the mob. I had mixed feelings about the movie, "Earth". In the beginning of the film, it set the scene by letting you meet the family that the film was based upon and view their everyday life. The movie centers around a Parsee family in which I learned took a neutral position in the partition. They didn't attack, and were not attacked by either side. In Lahore where the movie takes place, the people were very peaceful and lived comfortably together. The city was mostly Muslim populated, but the Hindus owned the majority of the businesses. When the idea of partition was introduced, they really didn't know to which country they would belong. I really didn't enjoy the beginning, as I though the English being spoken was difficult to understand, and reading the subtitles was bothersome. There was no action, people were performing their everyday tasks and constantly debating the pros and cons of partition. As a result, at the beginning, I didn't think that the movie was going to be very interesting. After the actual partition occurred, which was very confusing, one day all was well, the next, everyone was dying. The viewer knows that the partition was happening but I found it to be confusing. As I said, the central family was going for a drive, then suddenly you see people marching and carrying all of their belongings. I think there could have been a better way to show that the partition had begun. I thought that it was interesting to view the actual riots and a little taste of what actually happened to people when the fighting began. In Lahore, which was given to Pakistan, so the Muslims were in control, they sought out all Hindus that remained. Everyone was corrupt, even the police and fireman. If one was a Hindu, mobs of Muslims would come and take them away. I think that the movie would have been better, if a parallel was made to a city that stayed in India, so one could view what the Hindus did, as well as the Muslims. It would have been interesting also to see what happened in rural villages and in the countryside. What I really enjoyed, was the train event, the train massacre. I didn't like the train station appearing with all the dead bodies. They didn't actually recount the history of the train burning. The movie explained some of it in a radio broadcast, but some of it was still unclear. I felt that throughout the entire movie, I was trying to figure out what religion each family was, and what side they took, what side each city supported, and all the little details. It made it difficult to enjoy the movie. It was hard to distinguish between the secondary characters, and determine which belonged to which religion. I think there should have been a distinguishing look, or dress, something to aid you in trying to determine the religion of each member. The movie did give me an inside look at the trials that the people had to endure during the partition, their life, although I still felt it to be confusing. I felt that the plot wandered, it was difficult to understand and analyze. The movie was an excellent tool used to teach about the life at that time, but it did not portray well the actual events and facts surrounding the partition.

This movie was great! It showed the events that took place to seperate a great nation. It shows that love has no boundaries and will do what ever it has to. It is a great story to help learn about other cultures and the past of a nation. However the disk that I was sent did not work on any of my equipment. Could not use it at anyones house or on any computer. So I watched the movie on youtube!

This child's-eye view of historic unrest in newly postcolonial India, which erupted in violence after independence and the creation of Muslim Pakistan, is a timely film about ethnic and religious conflict wrapped around a story of forbidden love. Seductive and sorrowful, "Earth" boasts fine acting - including a rousing turn by Aamir Khan, as Shanta's lover-turned-embittered-bigot, Ice Candy Man - and exquisite, honey-hued photography by lensman Giles Nuttgens.

This movies it's a movie of colection!!!

Film magnifique sur la douloureuse partition de l'Inde en 1947, que les amoureux de l'Inde devraient voir.

I have just watched EARTH and I am quite simply shattered. I had been trying to get hold of the film for quite a while and of course I was somewhat afraid it might not be up to my expectations - it has exceeded them by far. It just is one of the best films I have seen in a long time. But be warned - it is by no means a Bollywood film or what has come to be understood by the term. The action takes place in Lahore, august 1947, and shows the cruel aspects of the Partition - the old, old story of politics suddenly turning friends into deadly enemies: Hindus turn against Muslims, Muslims turn against Hindus and in the midst of it there is an eight-year-old girl who watches it all and understands nothing - but still she experiences extreme sadness and suffering that will change her life forever. One of the most heartrending scenes is the one where she re-enacts one of the cruel scenes she has witnessed. Don't get me wrong - the atrocities are hinted at rather than explicitly shown; they are mostly in the head (they always are the worst kind, of course, because you can't shake them off - especially as you know they really did happen - and are still happening). The action centres around the girl and her nanny and her group of friends, of different religions and different social backgrounds. It all starts pleasantly and even funnily enough - but given the historical background you just know that the characters' destinies are spiralling to an unavoidably tragic climax where love turns into hate and trust is unforgivably betrayed. There is no happy ending, there just can't be - worse even, there is not even a glimpse of hope left one of the persons involved might have survived emotionally if bodily. The actors are all of them beyond par and Aamir Kahn is second to none - Hollywood, Bollywood or whatever. To my mind there are few actors if any who can bring great emotions across by this minimalistic means. This film will leave you drained but it is worth every minute of it.

イギリス植民地時代終了前後のインドを描く。イスラム教、ヒンズー教、そしてシーア派の異なる信仰をもった人々の、争いとその悲劇を広大なインドを背景に描く。今もなお、世界中で続いている宗教紛争を悲痛に、そしてダイナミックに描く超大作。アメリカの劇場でみたが、最初の一時間を居眠りをしてしまった。のこりの一時間だけでも十分インパクトがありベストバイだといえる。かなり直接的な描写があるので、見る前にはご注意を。ムトゥー的なおちゃらけ映画ではないで心してみてください。

Avant d'acheter, j'aurais aimé savoir qu'il n'y avait pas de sous titrage en Français. Un minimum quoi!