Overview
A poignant exploration of friendship and faith amidst the chaos of partition.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- disturbing
- melancholic
- intimate
- historical cinema night
- south asian film study
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a powerful, disturbing, and convincingly performed account of Partition that makes its historical and universal implications accessible.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lenny Sethna observes the adult friendships and communal rupture in Lahore, filtering history through childhood perception.
The working-class interfaith friend group is gradually destabilized as Partition intensifies religious hatred.
Shanta's relationships with Dil Navaz and Hassan unfold against the impending division of Lahore and India.
The film begins with cosmopolitan Lahore and develops Partition through the fate of a compact circle of friends rather than military leaders.
Films like Earth, and why
Train to Pakistan
historical partition trauma, communal violence, and intimate human relationships amid social collapse
The Killing Fields
period historical drama portraying ethnic conflict through intertwined personal lives and moral anguish
The Last Emperor
politically charged historical romance where friendship and desire are shattered by collective violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Deepa Mehta
- Release Date
- 1998-09-16
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (43)
Cast
- Aamir Khan
- Nandita Das
- Rahul Khanna
- Maia Sethna
- Kitu Gidwani
- Arif Zakaria
- Eric Peterson
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda
- Pavan Malhotra
- Sunil Mehra
Common questions
- What is Earth about?
- A child’s view of Lahore’s fractured friendships becomes a devastating portrait of love and communal violence during the Partition of India.
- What is Earth like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Earth as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Earth violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Earth as graphic.
- What did critics think of Earth?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a powerful, disturbing, and convincingly performed account of Partition that makes its historical and universal implications accessible.
- Which films are like Earth?
- Films with a similar feel include Train to Pakistan, The Killing Fields, and The Last Emperor.
- How long is Earth?
- Earth runs 101 minutes.
