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7.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Earth remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have any patience at all for silent movies, yes. You should watch it just to see how they filmed the sky back then.
People who need constant explosions or fast talking will hate this. It’s a slow burn that’s mostly interested in faces and fruit.
I think anyone who likes photography would get a kick out of it. It’s like a moving gallery of old black-and-white photos that somehow feel more alive than 4K video.
The movie starts with an old man named Semyon just... dying. But it’s not dramatic or scary.
He is sitting in a field of tall grass with apples everywhere. He looks incredibly peaceful, like he’s just a part of the dirt now.
He takes a bite of an apple and then he’s gone. His friends are just standing around him, not really crying, just accepting it.
It’s a really long scene. It makes you feel the heat of the sun even though it's a black and white film.
Then we get into the main plot, which is basically about a tractor. Vassily is the young guy who is super excited about it.
He wants the village to work together. The rich farmers are naturally furious because it threatens their power.
When the tractor finally arrives, it’s treated like a god. The whole village comes out to see it.
But then, the most human thing happens. The radiator runs dry and the tractor stops.
Instead of panicking, all the men just stand in a circle and... well, they pee into the radiator to fill it up. It’s such a weird, funny moment for a movie that is supposedly serious propaganda.
There is a scene where Vassily is walking home at night. He is so happy because things are going well.
He starts dancing in the dust on this empty road. It’s a very long, quiet shot under the moonlight.
You can see the dust kicking up around his boots. It’s probably the most famous part of the movie, and for a good reason.
Then—bang—he gets shot. It’s so sudden. No music, no big buildup, just a quick flash and he’s down.
It actually made me jump a little because the rest of the movie is so quiet. It felt very unfair.
The last part of the movie is a funeral, but it's mixed with other things. There is a woman who is so upset she’s running around her room without clothes on.
I read that this part was heavily censored back in the day. It doesn't feel dirty though, it just feels like she’s lost her mind from grief.
While the funeral is happening, one of the rich guys is literally digging his head into the ground like an ostrich. He’s screaming that he killed Vassily, but nobody is listening to him.
It’s a bit over the top, honestly. But the contrast between the calm funeral and this guy losing it in the dirt is pretty striking.
I've seen other movies from this era like Eternal Love or The Vortex, but this feels different. It feels more like a poem than a story.
Sometimes the political stuff feels a bit forced, like they are trying too hard to sell the idea of collective farms. But you can just ignore that and look at the rain on the melons.
The shots of the rain at the end are some of my favorites. Everything looks so fresh and wet.
I think I missed some of the deeper meanings about the different classes of farmers. But I don't think you need to understand 1930s Ukrainian politics to appreciate the faces.
The sky takes up like 70% of the frame in some shots. It makes the people look tiny. ☁️
The women’s headscarves are tied in such a specific way. I wonder how long that took to get right.
The way they filmed the wheat moving in the wind is better than any CGI. It’s mesmerizing.
One of the old guys looks exactly like my grandfather if he hadn't shaved for a week.
If you like movies that take their time and don't treat you like an idiot, give Earth a chance. It's short, so even if you hate it, you only lost about 75 minutes. But you probably won't hate it.
IMDb —
1930
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