“No problem can be solved from the same
consciousness that created it” - Albert Einstein
In a film within a film, director Sebastian
(Gael Garcia Bernal) and producer Costa (Luis
Tosar) are shooting in Cochabamba, Bolivia in
the year 2000. The film they are working on
proposes to depict Christopher Columbus'
exploitation of the indigenous native population
in his voyage to the Americas and the effort of
two priests to stand up to the Catholic Church.
Written by Paul Laverty, the regular
screenwriter for British director Ken Loach, and
dedicated to the late progressive historian
Howard Zinn, Iciar Bollain's openly political
drama Even the Rain takes on the past history of
exploitation of native populations, showing a
parallel to current history.
The film developed through Laverty's desire to
dramatize the life of Bartolomé de las
Casas, a Dominican friar who become an
anti-slavery activist in defiance of the church
and his native Spain. Shot in the high Andes
because of budgetary constraints, Even the Rain
attempts to conflate three levels of
exploitation: the historical treatment of the
Native Americans by the Spanish conquerors in
the 16th century, the actual attempt by Bolivia
to cede control of the country's water supply to
a British-American corporation, and the
filmmakers' cost-cutting that results in the
Quechua population being paid only $2.00 an hour
as extras.
Opening with a “La Dolce Vita” shot of a wooden
crucifix being transported to the mountains by
helicopter, the film moves to an open casting
call in Cochabamba as hundreds of Bolivians line
up to audition for a role in the projected film.
Turned away by the producer when the quota of
locals is filled, Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri),
a vocal political activist demands that the
Bolivians be hired even after they are told to
leave. As a result of his strong personality, he
is selected to play the role of Hatuey, the
first Indian to be crucified for resisting the
Spanish and Christian empire.
A problem arises, however, when Daniel becomes
the leader of a local group protesting the
social injustice entailed in Bolivia's
privatization of its own water supply (a true
event that forbade the native population from
collecting their own rainwater). Even after
Daniel tells him "You don't understand, water is
life,” Costa demands that the young actor give
up his political campaign to concentrate on the
film which needs him desperately. As the
director, Sebastian likewise must walk a thin
line between balancing his ideals with his
powerful desire to present a revisionist history
of Columbus to the world. “The protests
will be forgotten, but the film will last
forever,” he argues.
Tosar is outstanding as the arrogant producer
who is drawn unwillingly into the political
protest. Overheard on a phone call, Costa
brusquely tells a foreign investor how he is
putting one over on the locals, not realizing
that Daniel, standing only a few feet away from
him speaks English. Eventually, however, Costa
is forced to choose between the success of the
film and the demands of his conscience staring
at him relentlessly.
Even the Rain tells us that understanding the
past is meaningless unless that knowledge can be
made relevant to the present day, a lesson that
the characters must learn the hard way. In
lesser hands, the film could easily have become
didactic or preachy, but Bollain maintains a
steady hand and the result is an engaging and
powerful film that not only speaks out loudly
against injustice, but does so with poetry and
passion.