Earth (1930)

When watching Earth, I could feel myself transported to the village in the movie. For a silent movie, I felt the cinematography was both dramatic and ahead of its time. Earth opens with a panoramic view of fruit and waving wheat fields. The movie is centered around a rural Ukrainian village and its problems with the collectivication of the farmland. The hero of the movie, Vasil or Basil, is a farmer who believes the future of farming relies on the tractor. Vasil is later murdered by a greedy farmer named Thomas. The final scene of the movie is impressive. The funeral procession , led by Vasil's father, is brilliantly created by Dovzhenko. Dramatic close ups of singing and crying faces helps convey the remorse felt by the villagers. The very end of the movie includes a similar sequence found at the beginning of the movie. Fruit is again show to the audience before a final shot of a village couple. The village couple at the end of the movie makes me wonder if the entire movie was just a dream. The couple shown closely resembles Vasil and his wife. Vasil's wife wakes up in his arms and looks happy to be with her husband. Could this movie be her dream?