The genre of movies about movies coils back on itself in “Even the Rain.” The film involves the making of a film about Columbus and his discovery of America. That story shows how his arrival began centuries of exploitation of the native Americans he found. “Even the Rain” is about how the filming of this story begins yet another cycle of exploitation.
As the film opens, a cast and crew have arrived on location in the mountains of Bolivia, far from the Caribbean shores first found by Columbus. Here, as the producer Costa (Luis Tosar) boasts, the local Indians can be hired as extras for $2 a day and count themselves lucky. They also can be used for manual labor, and Costa is happy to use them to haul a giant crucifix into position, saving the cost of tractor rental.
You may begin to glimpse some symbolism coming into view. The film will exploit the Indians just as Columbus did. The difference is that Columbus evoked Christianity as his excuse, while the modern film thinks it is denouncing him while committing the same sins. This is more clear to us than the characters, including Gael Garcia Bernal as Sebastian, the director, who has vague sympathies for his low-paid workers, but places his film above everything.
An opening scene establishes the poverty in the district. A casting call for extras draws a line of hopefuls that reaches out of sight. One of these is Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri), a worker who protests when the auditions are cut short. Sebastian ends up casting him in an important role, and then discovers that in real life Daniel is a leader in a local revolt against the privatization of the local water resources. A California company has bought land rights and plans to charge the Indians for water from their own wells.
The personal dynamics of a movie location can be tricky. Here Sebastian faces not only a crusading local actor, but also an alcoholic leading man and a penny-pinching producer. Costa is obsessed with saving money, Sebastian thinks of himself as more humanitarian, but it is Costa who is eventually humanized by the plight of the workers.
The performance by Tosar as the producer is confident and sturdy. Garcia Bernal, as the director, is wimpy and not clearly defined, but that’s in the nature of the character. The movie is brave to raise the questions it does, although at the end I looked in vain for a credit saying, “No extras were underpaid in the making of this film.”
MOVIE REVIEW
“Even the Rain”
Grade:B
Starring Luis Tosar. Gael Garcia Bernal and Juan Carlos Aduviri Directed by Iciar Bollain. In Spanish, with English subtitles.
Unrated. At Landmark Midtown. 1 hour, 44 minutes.
Bottom line: A brave film that tackles Indian exploitation.
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