Sexual Astrology - DVD : Earth
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Deepa Mehta is best known for her extraordinary trilogy: Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005). Based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's autobiographical novel, Cracking India, the second film in the series, Earth, tells the epic tale of the 1947 partition of the British Indian Empire from the perspective of a disabled eight-year-old Parsi girl named "Lenny-baby" (Maia Sethna). Lenny lives with one of her legs in a brace. Her beautiful Hindu nanny, Shanta (Nandita Das), falls in love with a Muslim masseur, Hasan (Rahul Khanna), but also likes Dil Navaz (Aamir Khan), also known as "Ice Candy Man." Dil loves Shanta, and hopes that one day she will be his wife. Lenny observes eveything around her. When Muslim passengers are found murdered on a train, tensions erupt between Muslims and Hindus, resulting in mob violence and arson. Religious differences divide their country, but Shanta and Hasan are united by their love. As Lenny bears witness to the unfolding civil war around her, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees, and Christians find themselves at odds with one another, and Ice Candy Man is transformed from a friend into a madman. The film features mesmerizing imagery and a beautiful soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman. Earth resonates on many levels. It is sensual, intelligent, and beautiful. Highly recommended.
G. Merritt
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This is a devastating film about the partition of India seen through the eyes of a little girl in Lahore. A wealthy family Parsee family who follow the religion Zoroastrianism (which is an ancient Persian religion) have a beautiful Hindu nanny who attracts the young men and the family dotes after. As the independence of India nears and the partition of India becomes more likely, the tension between Muslims and Hindus are intense. While Sikhs and Parsees tend to live on the sidelines, they find it difficult to resist the pressures of the Muslim majority. The hatred of Hindus grow. What can a little girl make of the tension and how does her nanny feel about all this?
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I gravitated toward this movie after seeing "Water," which I thought was amazing. "Earth" seemed to me to be, though ambitious in scope and subject, a much less accomplished film--somewhat pedantic and leaden, awkward and fragmented. The characters all too obviously stand in for aspects of the social and political landscape, whereas in "Water," the characters' stories and relationships with each other, while embodying larger issues, were for me much more involving, immediate, vivid, and poignant. I think Mehta grew enormously as a filmmaker between making these films.
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I decided that because Water and Fire were such brilliant films, I had to see Earth as well. Deepa Mehta is an unbelievably remarkable film-maker, and I knew that Earth would be up to her usual genius - beautiful shots, tenderness and pain, all I have come to expect from her. Earth, however, so aptly titled, went far beyond what I expected. First of all, its educational aspect cannot be overlooked - I thought I knew Indian history, but things on a page are very different from the visceral definition of what they mean captured on film. The sudden barbarism of people who had lived peacefully side by side for centuries, is beautifully rendered using a group of friends who represent all the factions that emerged at Britian's departure from and catastrophic division of India. The agony of loss and suffering of love are painted so believably by this most intelligent and creative director that you are there, aching with the characters. Earth is a painfully beautiful film, devastating and gorgeous at once, and totally, frighteningly, unforgettable.
Rating: -
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.
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