1947 Earth, Deepa Mehta’s tragic film about the
trauma of the 1947 Partition of India, is shown from the perspective of Lenny,
a young Parsi girl living in Lahore. From telling this horrific tale through
the innocent eyes of a young narrator, Mehta is able to contextualize the
violence in terms of the persistent fear and mistrust in the community by an
unbiased point of view. Mehta explores the development of the partition, from
solely existing as a rumor to causing gory violence and ensuing chaos.
The continuing theme of dismemberment is displayed through multiple levels of severity: breaking objects, breaking bodies, breaking communities, and eventually breaking India. This progression in levels of dismemberment continues throughout the climax of the film, rising from the breaking of insignificant but representative objects to the irreparable splitting of the country. The omniscient theme reappears consistently throughout the film with increasing intensity.
In the very first scene of the movie, Lenny breaks a plate that shatters indefinitely and loudly, causing horror and surprise from everyone in the house. This marks that the film starts in the rising of tensions, without a single initial moment of peace. The surprise on everyone’s face also indicates that the actions soon to follow are not expected by anyone in the community. The riots and the terrorization have an uncharacteristic and beastly quality that has no counterpart in the original inclusive community.
The shattering of the car window as those with green flags protest for Pakistan marks the true start of tension. It is the first legitimacy that is given to the underlying fears of the partition of India. Their car is surrounded by the large number of protestors; their fears can no longer be ignored as they are physically surrounded by the attempts and they are forced to accept the reality. The shattering of their window is representative of the breaking of their utopia, a world in which they thought that the partition would simply not affect them because of their neutrality. But the conflict is unavoidable, whether belonging to the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, British, or other categorization.
To act as a foil to the persistent dismemberment, the one scene where disseverance is avoided is portrayed with painful irony. When the Dil threatens loudly to cut the necks of the birds in front of the British as part of a hoax, they are horrified and pay the man enough money to set them free. While the British are overly concerned with the well-being of the birds, they take little to no care in handling the riots and protests. They will not allow the Dil to unjustly break the necks of the birds, but they are doing the exact same thing to India. They plan to leave it disabled and irreparable, and will quickly and surely break their necks by dividing the borders. The birds are thought of more highly than the nation.
In the last parts of the movie, the examples of dismemberment are so many as it is amidst the height of the tension. The mass migration of people from Lahore to Amritsar signifies the unwilling and forced breaking of the community. The mass murder of Muslims on the train is largest action of breaking the original trust between members in the community; at this point, the harshly different world can no longer be mended. The betrayal of Shanta by Dil is the last breaking – when loved ones and friends can no longer depend on each other. This is representative of the deeply internal and embedded rift, and essentially the partition of India.
Dismemberment played a necessary role in creating an accurate but harsh reality of the partition. 1947 Earth does not shy away from the cruel truths and provides an insight into the solemn time in India’s history.
The continuing theme of dismemberment is displayed through multiple levels of severity: breaking objects, breaking bodies, breaking communities, and eventually breaking India. This progression in levels of dismemberment continues throughout the climax of the film, rising from the breaking of insignificant but representative objects to the irreparable splitting of the country. The omniscient theme reappears consistently throughout the film with increasing intensity.
In the very first scene of the movie, Lenny breaks a plate that shatters indefinitely and loudly, causing horror and surprise from everyone in the house. This marks that the film starts in the rising of tensions, without a single initial moment of peace. The surprise on everyone’s face also indicates that the actions soon to follow are not expected by anyone in the community. The riots and the terrorization have an uncharacteristic and beastly quality that has no counterpart in the original inclusive community.
The shattering of the car window as those with green flags protest for Pakistan marks the true start of tension. It is the first legitimacy that is given to the underlying fears of the partition of India. Their car is surrounded by the large number of protestors; their fears can no longer be ignored as they are physically surrounded by the attempts and they are forced to accept the reality. The shattering of their window is representative of the breaking of their utopia, a world in which they thought that the partition would simply not affect them because of their neutrality. But the conflict is unavoidable, whether belonging to the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, British, or other categorization.
To act as a foil to the persistent dismemberment, the one scene where disseverance is avoided is portrayed with painful irony. When the Dil threatens loudly to cut the necks of the birds in front of the British as part of a hoax, they are horrified and pay the man enough money to set them free. While the British are overly concerned with the well-being of the birds, they take little to no care in handling the riots and protests. They will not allow the Dil to unjustly break the necks of the birds, but they are doing the exact same thing to India. They plan to leave it disabled and irreparable, and will quickly and surely break their necks by dividing the borders. The birds are thought of more highly than the nation.
In the last parts of the movie, the examples of dismemberment are so many as it is amidst the height of the tension. The mass migration of people from Lahore to Amritsar signifies the unwilling and forced breaking of the community. The mass murder of Muslims on the train is largest action of breaking the original trust between members in the community; at this point, the harshly different world can no longer be mended. The betrayal of Shanta by Dil is the last breaking – when loved ones and friends can no longer depend on each other. This is representative of the deeply internal and embedded rift, and essentially the partition of India.
Dismemberment played a necessary role in creating an accurate but harsh reality of the partition. 1947 Earth does not shy away from the cruel truths and provides an insight into the solemn time in India’s history.
No comments:
Post a Comment