It is said that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. It is also said that history will teach us nothing. History on film must be entertaining in order to have a meaningful impact on us. Earth is the second in a film trilogy on the elements by director Deepa Mehta, and it doesn’t pass the ‘entertaining’ test.
Set in 1947 in Lahore, India, Earth re-tells the story of India on the eve of self-rule after 250 years of being governed by the British Empire. Lenny, an eight-year-old Parsee girl enjoys a wonderful childhood with loving parents and a nanny. She is exposed to the underlying festering of religious differences through the nanny’s friends and suitors. These differences among Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus will mire India’s independence and freedom in violence and shame, not only dividing the country into warring factions but destroying Lenny’s childhood innocence forever. Unfortunately, this description of the film is more enticing than what the film’s promotion provides, and even more unfortunately, what the film delivers.
Like most disputes between opposing parties, there is an unintelligible reason for the conflict. When conflict grows as a result of intolerance of religious or racial issues, the irrationality of violence cannot be justified. This is certainly a lesson that Earth presents; unfortunately, the presentation is so slow and dull that the message can be lost between your frequent glances at your watch. Deepa Mehta employs very deliberate pacing. Many scenes are played out through long takes and fluid camera motion. Perhaps the intention is to be ironic. Whether or not this is the case, it also serves to convince my attention span and me that nothing interesting is going on.
The film’s strongest moments reveal how children react to the craziness that’s going on in the adult world. In one scene, a very young girl is married off to an old man. When Lenny asks her nanny why this is happening, the nanny replies that with all that is going on, people are doing some crazy things. The young bride is more interested in the doll that Lenny gave her as a wedding gift than in the old man. Another scene shows Lenny conversing with a young boy refugee who fled the violent slaughter of his village by fighters of a rival religion. The boy recalls how his mother was raped and killed and then asks Lenny if she wants to play marbles. She declines but offers the boy some of her birthday cake. The point is made powerfully, but unfortunately the film moves too slowly to maintain that kind of strength.
