- Directors: Deepa Mehta
- Format: NTSC
- Number of discs: 1
- Studio: Paradox
- Release Date: Mar 7 2006
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000EBIOHG
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #21,273 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
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Product Description
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Indian-born Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta returns to his roots (cinematically speaking) for this, the second of three theme-related, but otherwise unconnected films about India. Taking their titles from the elements, the first was Fire, the third Water. Earth is set in 1947 on the verge of India's independence from British rule and its division into India and Pakistan. The story takes place in a city caught in the middle, as erstwhile friends of various religious stripes find themselves being torn apart by the greater ethnic conflicts. It focuses on a wealthy family of ethnically neutral Parsees and is told, at least nominally, from the point of view of their young daughter (Maia Sethna). Her beautiful nanny (Nandita Das) is a Hindu but her circle of twentysomething friends includes Muslims and Sikhs, and she is the object of adoration of two Muslim men, one (Aamir Khan) initially carefree and flamboyant, but who gets caught up in the bitterness, and the other (Rahul Khanna) who is more studious and thoughtful. Adapted by Mehta from the book Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa, this is a handsomely mounted, well-intentioned drama. It's certainly provocative and disturbing in its portrait of a society torn apart by prejudice, but Mehta seems so intent on chronicling the bigger social and political upheavals that she kind of short changes the characters and the human drama, not really following through on certain ideas. Sethna's adult self (played briefly by novelist Sidhwa) opens and closes the film, implying she's the focal character, but Mehta doesn't entirely stick with the theme of the story being filtered entirely through that child's perceptions. While the romantic triangle is unevenly developed, even perfunctory, with Das one moment seeming to be with one character, then the next moment with the other. And surely that's the point of tackling real events in a fictional narrative, to put a human face on, and therefore demand viewer emotional involvement in, what otherwise might seem like distant and abstract conflicts. --D.K. Latta
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Film,
By
This review is from: Earth (VHS Tape)
I first saw this movie two years ago at an Amnesty International movie night at my college. I didn't pay all that much attention because I'd come in the middle. I saw it a year later for a Women Studies course and fell in love with it. The Partition is a difficult time in Indian and Pakistani history, but it is brought to vivid life in this film. The large scale story is brought to a manageable level with the circle that surrounds Shanta. Some of her suitors are Muslim, some Sikh, and some Hindu. She is what India could have been and the men around her are what India was to become. The acting is quite strong and I have to agree with all of the people who called the three main actors (Nandita Das,Aamir Khan, and Rahul Khanna) to be quite an amazing group and they make every scene when they are with the other shimmer and have more life than all the others. A truly beautiful movie with beautiful people, beautiful scenery, beautiful music, and a story worth hearing.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very IMPORTANT information about this amazing movie!,
This review is from: Earth (VHS Tape)
EARTH is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and it my uderstanding from reading the other reviews that others feel this way, too. If you are a fan of the movie, I have some VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION to share with you: First, I want you all to know that the movie is based DIRECTLY on the book CRACKING INDIA by Bapsi Sidhwa (and if you haven't read the book--you must! Add it to your cart right now--Sidhwa is a wonderful writer and you cannot fully appreciate the movie until you have read the book). So to begin, I wanted to make sure that Sidhwa was recognized. I think it is only fair to give the "mother" of the idea full respect. Ok, for all of you desperate to find the SOUNDTRACK, I know where you can find it! To find it, you must know that when the movie first came out (in India I believe)it was entitled "1947" so the soundtrack is of the movie "1947" (Earth is exactly the same as 1947). Now, as if your life couldn't get any better...I know where you can order the CD soundtrack. Go to [...] and type in "1947". It should take you directly to a page where you can buy the CD. So, I hope that this gem of information will prompt you to read the book CRACKING INDIA, as the movie cannot be fully appreciated without having read it. Any more questions, you can e-mail me at ShumNum@aol.com. Happy viewing, listening, and READING!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The others have already given excellent background info...,
By Wyndwalkyr (Eugene, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Earth (VHS Tape)
...but I just want to add to the praise for this movie. Having just watched it, I feel that I have just witnessed as perfect a movie as I have ever seen. This is an important film that captures the essence of one of the most cataclysmic events in human history. I wish everyone could see it.
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