Even the Rain

(Tambien la lluvia – Spain – France - Mexico)

A Morena Films, Vaca Films (Spain)/Mandarin Cinema (France)/Alebrije

Cine y Video (Mexico) production with the participation of TVE, Canal +.
(International Sales: Wild Bunch, Paris). Produced by Juan Gordon, Eric
Altmayer, Monica Lozano, Emma Lustres. Executive producer, Pilar
Benito.
Directed by Iciar Bollain. Screenplay, Paul Laverty. Camera (color,
widescreen), Alex Catalan; editor, Angel Hernandez Zoido; production
design, Juan Pedro de Gaspar; music, Alberto Iglesias; sound (Dolby
Digital), Emilio Cortes. Reviewed at Roxy B Cinema, Madrid, Aug. 29,
2010. (In Toronto Film Festival – Contemporary World Cinema.) Running
time: 104 Min.

With: Luis Tosar, Gael Garcia Bernal, Juan Carlos Aduviri, Karra Elejalde,
Carlos Santos, Raul Arevalo.

By JONATHAN HOLLAND

By unpicking the dilemma of whether it’s possible to make feature films

about poverty and remain morally consistent, “Even the Rain” bravely calls
into question its own existence. A powerful, richly layered indictment of
the plight of Latin America’s dispossessed that cunningly parallels the
Spanish conquest of the Americas with the 20th-century spread of
capitalism, Iciar Bollain’s fifth feature is both her most ambitious and her
best, driving its big ideas home through a tightly-knit Paul Laverty script
that only falters over the final reel. Offshore sales are guaranteed, though
mainstream auds might find pic’s moral convictions too preachy.

The thought-provoking opening scene feature an immense wooden cross

being helicoptered into the Bolivian highlands for the shoot of a revisionist
drama about the arrival of Columbus in the New World.

Hard-nosed producer Costa (Luis Tosar), director Sebastian (Gael Garcia

Bernal) and their team, including actors Anton (Karra Elejalde), Alberto
(Carlos Santos) and Alberto (Raul Arevalo) find hundreds of locals, far
more than they need, lined up for roles as extras. The ruthless Costa
instructs Sebastian to cut the line at the number he needs and send the rest
away, but Sebastian insists on meeting them all individually. Daniel (Juan
Carlos Aduviri), the extra who has raised his voice in protest the extra, is
chosen to play Hatuey, a Taino chief who led a rebellion against the
Spanish.

Most of pic deals with the difficulties – moral rather than financial -
relating to the shoot, with perspectives shifting to include lengthy scenes
from the film being shot and a docu about the shoot taking place at the
same time. It quickly becomes clear that Columbus’ interest in grabbing
much gold as possible is being played out, five centuries later, by Costa’s
(the name fits) penny-pinching: they are in Bolivia precisely because extras
can be hired more cheaply than anywhere else.

Simultaneously with the shoot, the locals, led by the mistrusting Daniel, are
fighting the Bolivian government’s privatization of the water supply, a real-
life episode which Laverty smoothly incorporates.

Daniel overhears a phone conversation between Costa and the film’s

financier in which Costa gloats that two dollars a day means these people
live like kings. Speaking a little English (perhaps too conveniently for the
plot), he challenges Costa, and the balance of power between the men starts
to shift. Having hired Daniel for a major role, Costa now risks losing him,
since Daniel is anyway more interested in solving the water issue than in
playing an extra. The various faceoffs between Costa and Daniel are pic’s
moral heart, and are superbly written and played.

Tosar is an imposing screen presence, but struggles to make Costa’s swift

transformation from mercenary capitalist to moral crusader convincing.
The final scenes are his, but they feel like a late attempt to shoehorn in a
conventional feelgood strand about the triumph of good over evil. Though
it’s nicely uplifting, it feels simplistic given the rich moral ambiguities
which have preceded it.

Characters are defined by their political perspectives, and accordingly

thesps struggle to bring nuance to their perfs; though Elejalde is riveting as
both the hard-drinking, shambolic and terminally cynical Anton and as
Columbus, Bernal as the frustrated idealist Sebastian adds little to the role
once he has been set up. Aduviri does good work as the quietly determined,
haunted-looking Daniel, aware that maintaining an enigmatic silence is the
best policy.

The script is far stronger when focusing on the collective perspective – the
group scene, for example, when Anton half-drunkenly points out that de las
Casas, supposedly the father of human rights, never questioned Spanish
rule in the area.
The historical film-within-film sequences are superbly done, with fine
attention to period detail: ironically, it’s when they are wearing period
costume that the characters are most fully alive onscreen. Scenes of street
conflict likewise have the raw power of documentary, and indeed
incorporate footage from the 2000 riots.

Alberto Iglesias’s rich, orchestral score is classic fare with indigenous hues
but is slightly overused. Alex Catalan’s lensing makes the most of the high-
rolling mountain scenery but is otherwise unintrusive.

Pic features some Quechua language and is dedicated to Howard Zinn, the
socialist writer who died earlier this year.

ENDS