Even the Rain was directed by the Mexican filmmaker Icíar Bollaín and was released in 2010.
The film shows the consequences of the Spanish colonialism by drawing an analogy between the attitude of the conquistadors and of modern society towards the indigenous people.
The first as
ambitioned and idealistic characterized director Sébastian (Gael García Bernal) and his
cynical producer Costa want to make a movie in Bolivia about
Columbus, which shows the cruel exploitation of the Native Americans,
while also honoring fighters for the indigenous people like Hatuey
and Bartolomé de Las Casas.
Soon they get in
an ethical conflict between the fair treatment of their Native
American actors and to keep the costs low. This situation is
supported by the water war, which is caused by the privatization of
the water supplies. Their starring actor Daniel, who plays the
legendary fighter Hatuey, is one of the protest leaders and therefore
in permanent danger to get hurt or arrested by the police. The state
of affairs in Bolivia escalates and the film team has to stop their
work. Only Costa is driving back to the city to save Daniel and his
daughter, who joined the protests.
The film starts
with a lot of potential. Especially the similarities are made very
clear by changing from the time of Columbus to today. One scene is
very intense: they are filming the scene of the burning of indigenous
resistance fighters, where Chatuey says his famous quote that he
doesn't want to go to heaven if cruel people like the Spaniards are
going there. Just when the shot is finished, the police arrive to
imprison Daniel.
Unfortunately the
movie and the character evolution becomes predictable. Sébastian
becomes so obsessed with the film that he becomes blind for the
problems around him, while Costa starts to sympathize with the
protesters. In addition, it is like so often within this topic that
the story is told in a perspective from outside the indigenous
people, which just like in the movie has mostly a subliminal sense of
superiority. In the end it is a Spanish man, who saves Native
Americans. He becomes the hero. This implies that they are not able
to fight for themselves/protect themselves, which goes along with the
myth of the dumb, but innocent indigenous people. On the top, the movie has a very sentimental ending.
All in all, I
would recommend watching the movie. First, because its well-done
narrative technique and secondly it draws attention to two important
issues: The Spanish colonialism and the water war of 2000 in Bolivia.
Still there is a
certain irony about the movie, as it tries to criticize colonial
structures, but misses the self-reflection to see it operates in the
same.
