Earth (1998)

Deepa Mehta | India, Canada | 1998 | 108 min | PG A young Parsi girl whose Hindu nanny is wooed by two Muslim suitors bears witness to the violent Partition of India and Pakistan. In Lahore in 1947, young Lenny, from a wealthy Parsi family, is cared for by her beautiful and loving Hindu nanny Shanta. The two enjoy the company of Shanta’s colourful group of working-class friends of different faiths, including two Muslim men in love with Shanta. Yet looming over them is the spectre of Britain’s plan for India’s independence: dividing it into two nations along religious lines. As tensions escalate, old loyalties erode and new allegiances are formed based on the desire for survival, compassion, justice or revenge. As part of the Parsi minority, her family seeks to remain neutral, but Lenny learns hard truths about human nature while her country and community are violently, irrevocably changed.