Icíar BollaínEVEN THE RAIN

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Even the Rain bats around genres and styles to expose an uncomfortable truth about the hand colonialism continues to play in modern-day power struggles. It’s a study of the seductive trap of exploitation which perpetuates the social and economic status quo. Director Icíar Bollaín, writer Paul Laverty and a phenomenal cast have brought audiences something truly remarkable. This is exceptional, risk-taking filmmaking. Gael García Bernal stars as Sebastián, a starry-eyed director who arrives in Cochabamaba, Bolivia with his crew and producer Costa (Luis Tosar) to shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus’ hostile conquest of the Caribbean.

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Avalon Lyndon

They cast local activist Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri) in the role of Hatuey, the historical native chief who led his tribe’s rebellion against the Spanish invaders. However, the shoot is interrupted when life mirrors art; the village ofCochabamaba rises up against the attempted privatisation of their water supply. These are the 2000 Bolivia Water Wars, which threaten to sink Sebastián’s film and dash his hopes for success. Much of Even the Rain’s strength lies in its willingness to toy with convention. From the rough and ready grit of doc-style footage to the glossy beauty of the film-within-a-film, Even the Rain’s hopscotch

“This is exceptional,risk-taking filmmaking.”

makeup. We might have seen it all before ‘behind-the-scenes’, but these intensely cinematic moments will grip you like a vice. But what hits you, more even than the film’s visual trickery, is the human drama at its core. Bollaín and Laverty’s focus on one Bolivian family gives this David and Goliath conflict a real human face,

of genres creates a powerful mish-mash of contrasting styles. This visual patchwork is held together by a palette of dusky yellows, lush greens and muddy browns. The scenes we see from their Columbus-era film are genuinely breathtaking, with their vast verdant landscapes and fanatical attention to detail in the cast’s costume and

and Daniel’s speech, from which the film takes its name, is buzzing with a resilient, dignified power. But while the village is in the throes of an uprising, director Sebastián and producer Costa are experiencing their own awakenings. Sebastián may have travelled to Bolivia with good intentions, but he slowly falls into an age-old

mindset that isn’t too far removed from nasty piece o’ work Columbus himself. After all, he chose to film in Bolivia because he knew the extras would work for peanuts. Meanwhile, Costa see-saws on the opposite tangent. Starting off as a give-a-shit money maker with his eyes on nothing but profit, Costa is transformed as he comes face to face

“Bollaín gives this David and Goliath

“Bollaín gives this David and Goliathconflict a real human face.”

with the human struggle behind the scenes. Without their feet placed firmly in one camp, Sebastián and Costa straddle both sides of the conflict, forced to weigh up their own interests and ethics to decide what they really believe. The plot does slightly unravel in its final scenes, leaning dangerously close to glossy US TV drama territory. And it’s interesting to see how even Bollaín herself slips into the quagmire of postcolonial politics, risking romanticizing the exploiters by getting too caught up in gung-ho heroism. It is saved, however, by a litany of fantastic performances from all involved, particularly from non-actor Juan Carlos Aduviri as the enigmatic Daniel. Bollaín might be beating us over the head with her message, but it’s one that needs to be heard. Before it had even finished, I was itching to tell people about this film. Even the Rain doesn’t dabble in politics so much as drench itself in it, but its message is so integral to the film that it couldn’t be any other way. Granted, it’s not perfect. But Even the Rain is a real achievement, and raises a lot of pertinent questions. Here’s hoping it gets the audience it deserves, if only to find some way of answering them.

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