1947: Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998) is set in Lahore in the year 1947, just when India is being split. It explores important themes like class, gender, violence, and politics. It explores how the nature of inter-personal and inter-religion relationships changed during the Partition, and also gives an insight into the motivation behind people's violent actions. We see the extreme decisions that people took to preserve themselves, and how some gave in to the "animal" inside.
The film follows the lives of a group of friends. The members of the group are three Muslims: the masseuse Hassan, the Ice Candy Man Dil Nawaz and the butcher; two Sikhs: the zookeeper Sher Singh and Tota Ramji, and the Hindu woman Shanta. Initially, a difference in faith does not appear to come in between their friendship. Although they do talk of each other's religions, it has a jovial undertone and they are all laughing (12:22). When Shanta complains about "Hindu Musalman ki baatein", Dil Nawaz says it's "just talk among friends, keeps the heart clean" (12:34). This is ironic in a way because it is this same 'Hindu-Musalman ki baatein' that drives a wedge in between these friends. Tensions begin to arise over these issues, the first indication is at (38:00) when they are having lunch together. Talks of each other's religions no longer involve joking and laughing but are hostile and derogatory. They begin to develop violent tendencies towards each other. This is an example of how many long-lasting relationships could not withstand the tribulations of the Partition.
An important arc is the change in Dil Nawaz's character. There is a stark difference in his behaviour before and after the train from Gurdaspur arrives. At the beginning of the movie, we see that he is jovial and light-hearted. He always greets his friends with a shayari. He even tells Shanta "In the eyes of God we are all the same...What's the difference?" (13:25). He tried to defuse the tension when Sher Singh and the butcher were fighting (38:36). However, his spirit is broken when he sees what has been done to his sisters. When he is watching the riots from the rooftops, he says "Why don't the Sikhs go to India" (57:52). He delights in seeing the violence done against the Hindus. When he sees that they are adding petrol to the fires, he smiles in triumph which causes his friends to look at him in horror (1:00:54). Later on, Dil Nawaz admits openly to throwing grenades at people who he has known for his entire life because they are of the same religion as the people who cut off his sisters' breasts.
The Ice Candy Man is aware of the changes happening to him. In the scene in the park when Dil Nawaz pretends to be Allah's telephone, he defuses the sparks of aggression that arise between the Sikhs and the Muslims by saying that they will "fight like animals" when the Partition happens (28:48). This ironically foreshadowed the scene on the rooftop where he realises what is happening to him. He talks about the "lion caged inside" each person. He is aware of how terrible it is when the animal inside is allowed to be set free (1:02:40). He wishes to marry Shanta to control the animal that's inside. There are two sides to the coin here: giving in to the primal violent urges, verses behaving civilly, with compassion and mercy. The common man is aware of both sides of the coin. Ties to other humans through emotions like love and compassion keep us from giving in to the "animal" inside. Dil Nawaz lost his sisters to the riots, and also lost the attention of the love of his life. This caused him to give in to his violent urges and be fuelled by hate. The movie depicts how violence begets violence, and hate begets hate. An eye for an eye ended up making the whole world blind with rage.
The Parsis in the film provide a critical standpoint which is neutral. They favour neither the Hindus nor the Muslims. Lenny's mother explains to her that Parsis are so few in number that they cannot afford to take any extreme standpoints. We can see that Lenny's family lifestyle is very anglicised, they have a gramophone, very British looking crockery and decorations and have dinner with British guests. Throughout the movie, we see that the family is always trying to maintain peace and "be the sugar in the milk". When tensions arise at the dinner table, Lenny's parents make desperate attempts to restore peace (6:20, 8:18). However, maintaining neutrality is not that easy and Lenny's mother feels unsettled that they are unable to help their friends because it might mean betraying others. They cannot decide whom not to betray and decide that "best position - neutral position" (1:07:22). However, the fact that they bought a gun (30:54) shows that although they may be working hard to maintain their neutrality, they are prepared for the worst scenario.
One of the most jarring scenes in the movie is when Lenny and her cousin Adi talk to a young refugee who survived the massacre in his village by hiding under dead bodies. His mother was raped and killed and left hanging naked in a mosque. Because the Hindus attacked and killed everyone in his village, he is wary of them and asks the cousins if they are Hindus. When they say no, he asks a very unexpected question- he wants them to play marbles with him. It is truly heartbreaking to see this. Despite being nearly the same age as those two he has seen and lived through atrocities that no person should have to. However, he is still a young child and he still wants to do things that normal children do: like play marbles. Lenny and her cousin are wearing pristine white clothes, their hair is immaculate. Juxtaposed against this is the young refugee, also in white, but he is dirty and dishevelled. He does not even know what cake is when Lenny offers it to him. Lenny in her innocence and naivety does not even know what "giri hui aurat" means, she blindly repeats what Yousaf said to her. In a way, Lenny in her innocence represents us the viewer - we are watching all the events from a bubble of comfort. However, just a stone's throw away, and just a few years ago, people not that dissimilar from us went through horrific things.
Lenny is very fond of her Nanny and all the other villagers like Hassan and Dil Nawaz who look after her. They too are equally as fond of her. Lenny has a soft corner for Dil Nawaz. When Shanta asks if he is her hero, she grins and nods (12:21). She offers to marry him when he proposes to Shanta (1:03:33). In the final scene, he pretends to reprimand the protestors. He arrives wearing his usual garb of the ice candy man. He loomks straight into her eyes and asks her where Shanta is. Lenny being an innocent young girl trusts the Ice Candy Man and reveals Shanta's location. Dil Nawaz took advantage of the trust a young girl had in him so he could take his revenge. It is clear that he loved Lenny, but he still used her innocence so he could fulfil his vendetta.
The three important women in the movie are Shanta, Lenny and Lenny's mother. All three of them are strong and compassionate at the same time, and they all have a great love for each other as well. Lenny witnesses the murder of the man and tries to recreate it at home with a doll. When Shanta sees the torn doll she tries desperately to fix it and begins sobbing uncontrollably (1:07:59). Even when Shanta is packing to leave Lahore, she packs a photo of herself with Lenny. Lenny's mother also cares very much for Shanta, she is very supportive when Shanta says she wants to leave and even gives her an expensive saree and gold. Throughout the movie we see these three stand by each other.
Pappoo, a servant's daughter, although shown quite less in the movie, also had an important arc. When she tried to help out in pushing the car, she was beaten by her mother (22:57). She was married off by her father to a man who appears old enough to be her grandfather. Her father did this so he could convert to Christianity and save himself from the status of being an untouchable (29:13). Lenny's mother was aware of how her parents treated Pappoo. That is why she asked Lenny to give the money directly to Pappoo, and not to her mother. Pappoo's family cared more about their honor and status in society than the happiness of their daughter. This is similar to what we saw in Khaamosh Paani, where the woman's opinion or life doesn't matter, and the men take matters into their own hands.
Hassan is like Mahohar Lal in Pali, or Paran in Kafer, he just wants himself and his loved ones to be safe and happy. People had to choose between leaving their lifelong homes to partake a dangerous journey, and staying behind amidst a mob of dangerous people out to kill them. There was no safe option. Hasan is killed by an unknown person. Shanta is abducted by Dil Nawaz on a cart and her fate is unknown. Sher Singh's family is afraid to even sneeze, lest their position is given away (1:22:45). Hari converts to Islam to save his life. Earth shows us how the Partition literally tore apart the lives of ordinary people who were concerned with ordinary things. The big important people making the calls, "distributing cities like playing cards", Nehru making big speeches about India's independence, all seem distant and unimportant in front of the throngs of refugees that we see (45:09), and the train filled with dead bodies (51:35). It is truly disturbing to think of the number of people whose lives were turned upside down like the unfortunate people in the film. Although the country did become independent, it came at the heavy cost of a country divided, and the blood of many innocents.