mehrin-shahed
I have borrowed all lines from other reviews to make a summary of my own: A vibrant and lovely girl, Preity Zinta as Chand flies to Canada to marry a man she has never met. Ironically enough, Chand's new family in the First World lives a poor, miserable lifestyle. Soon Chand becomes a brutally battered and abused wife who bears the brunt of her husband, Rocky's frustration. An intelligent audience doesn't need to see all out, emotional, crying scene to justify actions. A man sitting in a car, lost in though, is more than enough. Rocky isn't shown as a monster, he is shown as a very flawed man who doesn't understand how to deal with his problems, taking his anger out on those weaker than him.Chand is who she is. A girl in a new land. A girl with expectations. Trapped within a system of willing accomplices. She suffers, she aches, she misses her mother, her country, she is desperate thinking that she will have to live the rest of her life with a bunch of monsters, yet she never really loses her sense of life. She does not blame anyone, she does not hate anyone, she seeks solace using her imagination. She creates a world that is better, and lives it. She creates a "Heaven on Earth".It may be slow paced but it’s still engaging and compact. This is a film that confronts so many issues in a very muted and delicate manner. No, I am not talking about domestic abuse. This is an explosive issue, and is dealt with as such. There are issues of expectations…of survival…of denial, of how young ones react - the subtle explorations of the human mind and nature - these are the ones to watch out for.We, as the viewers of this small snapshot in a girl's life, are forced to consider the definitions of mental health. Who is insane? The one that hallucinates? The one that is violent? The one that manipulates? The one that witnesses? All silently-screaming puppets on a string being maneuvered into a life of domesticated dereliction by forces that we could designate as fate or just cruel blows of workaday drudgery…Deepa Mehta stays away from the stereotypical 'Don't-hit-me' pitiable victim and also 'I'll-hit-you-back' kind of liberating experience approach. Mehta doesn't play out any moments of redemption or payback. She simply offers us survival, intelligently integrating magical realism in a rather artistic way. Every time Chand is maltreated by her husband, she starts whispering beautiful, beautiful poetry. When she's alone, she imagines a better life, she imagines she is a beloved woman and wife. All the sequences involving the snake may be confusing and unclear, but what I find great about these essentially surreal incidents is that every viewer is free to interpret them just the way he/she wants to.
Peter Young
It's hard to describe Heaven on Earth in one word or one sentence, and it's even more complicated to explain what it is about in one sentence. It has many aspects of our modern life which are touched so realistically and brilliantly by Deepa Mehta that few words could not describe them well enough. People mistakenly think the film is about domestic abuse, but it's far from being just about that. It is about immigration, the hardship of people who immigrate from one country to another, from one culture to another, from a difficult world to a world that is even worse. It is about isolation, loneliness and the pain of being far from your family. It is about the terrible consequences of arranged marriages. And of course, domestic violence, which is the main aspect that carries the narrative forward.All these elements are thrown upon the main protagonist of this picture, Chand. A vibrant and lovely girl, she flies to Canada to marry a man she has never met. Ironaically enough, while people expect to see a brighter, better life for a person who immigrates from India to Canada, we discover that Chand's new family lives a poor, miserable lifestyle. The members of the family include seven people, all of whom live in a two-bedroom house. The striking portrayal of life of immigrants in the suburbs of Toronto is realistic and precise. Soon Chand becomes a brutally battered and abused wife who bears the brunt of her husband, Rocky's frustration. These scenes are just terrible to watch. Rocky is cruel and carefree when he beats her, and Chand is full of pain and fear. It's very easy to hate Rocky, but the fact is that he is also a victim of the circumstances, of all the responsibility thrown at him.Preity Zinta's Chand is a wonderful and very well-written character. While it represents all the women-immigrants, all the abused women who are aware of domestic violence being a common part of their culture, it's great to see that in such a world there can be a woman who is so optimistic and positive. She suffers, she aches, she misses her mother, her country, she is desperate of thinking that she will have to live the rest of her life with a bunch of monsters, yet she never really loses her sense of life. She does not blame anyone, she does not hate anyone, she turns her difficulties into strengths, she turns her fears into valours by using her imagination. She creates a world that is better, and lives it. She creates a "Heaven on Earth".Deepa Mehta intelligently displays magical realism in a rather extremist way. Every time Chand is maltreated by her husband, she starts reciting in a whisper beautiful poetic monologues, which efficiently illustrate her loneliness and yearning to see her mother and get back home. When she's alone, she imagines a better life where she is a beloved woman and wife, escaping the cruel reality but little knowing that it's surreal. I must note the scenes which turned black and white deliberately, which are symbolic of the film's meaning. All the sequences involving the snake may be confusing and unclear, but what I find great about them is that every viewer is free to interpret them just the way they want to. Here "the power of the imagination" (which could be an equally suitable title for the film) gets a double-meaning. The audience is given an opportunity to experience the same kind of confusion that Chand herself goes through.Preity Zinta, in one of the finest performances of her career, is nothing short of spectacular as the struggling Chand. Heartfelt, nuanced, haunting and heartbreaking, this portrayal does not have a single false note. This role is contrary to Zinta's own image of a strong woman of substance, as well as most of her on-screen roles. And she pulls it so convincingly that it's almost impossible to believe it is the same woman who played so many happy-go-lucky characters in previous years. She displays helplessness, fear, despair, and at the same time a certain hope for a better day, with amazing subtlety, depth and pathos. Much of it is internal actually, and all you need to know is in her eyes. Just note the scene when she is looking through the bus window. There's so much pain in her eyes. It's just one bit of a really great performance. All the other cast members do a fine job and provide great support.Overall, Heaven on Earth is an extraordinary, deep and intelligent piece, with a view on the social values of today's world. Mehta's presentation of the issue is correct, it's not one-sided and not biased. There are no bad or good people in this film. The characters in this film are all victims of the society. I loved this concept, I appreciated the well-written dialogues, the realistic and unexpected proceedings. The film is brilliantly directed and edited. It is definitely not for everyone, it is not particularly entertaining and many may consider it slow and tedious. It is only for those who can go through a difficult sight, flow with the story, and understand its meaning. I tried to do it, and I personally consider it a great social film with a very meaningful message, as well as a wonderful glimpse into a person's mind, who can be full of optimism and positivity despite the sad reality.
sumanbarthakursmailbox
Videsh reminds you of the Aishwarya Rai starrer Provoked. Videsh too talks about domestic violence overseas.Videsh impresses in parts but not as a whole. My rating for Videsh - Heaven on Earth is one star out of ten.The film is about a Punjabi woman, who is beaten up by her husband time and again. Videsh, then, changes tracks and turns out to be different. A form-changing snake takes the woman's husband's form and spends time with her.Though the film is quite convincing initially, the arrival of the form-changing snake robs the film of its realism. Also, Deepa Mehta has not clarified why the husband is violent towards his wife.It's hardly perfect, but watch it nevertheless for Preity Zinta's earnest performance; that is unquestionably this film's biggest strength.
