Even the Rain

Even the Rain

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Icíar Bollaín
Produced by Juan Gordon
Pilar Benito
Eric Altmayer
Monica Lozano Serrano
Emma Lustres
Written by Paul Laverty
Based on 2000 Cochabamba protests
Starring Luis Tosar
Gael García Bernal
Juan Carlos Aduviri
Karra Elejalde
Raúl Arévalo
Music by Alberto Iglesias
Cinematography Alex Catalán
Edited by Ángel Hernández Zoido
Production
company
Morena Films
Alebrije Cine y Video
Mandarin Cinema
Distributed by Vitagraph Films
Release dates
  • September 16, 2010 (2010-09-16) (TIFF)
Running time
 104 minutes
Country Spain
Mexico
France
Language Spanish
Quechua
English
Box office $5.8 million[1]

Even the Rain (Spanish: También la lluvia) is a 2010 Spanish drama film directed by Icíar Bollaín about Mexican director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) and executive producer Costa (Luis Tosar) who travel to Bolivia to shoot a film depicting Christopher Columbus’s conquest. Sebastián and Costa unexpectedly land themselves in a moral crisis when they and their crew arrive at Cochabamba, Bolivia, during the intensifying 2000 Cochabamba protests, which their key native actor Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri) persistently leads.

The film received nominations and won awards internationally, including an Ariel Award for Best Ibero-American Film and three Goya Awards, one of which was Best Original Score for the work of Alberto Iglesias. Additionally, the film was nominated as Spain’s entry for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Plot

Mexican filmmaker Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) and his executive producer Costa (Luis Tosar) arrive in Cochabamba, Bolivia, accompanied by a cast and crew, prepared to create a film depicting Columbus's first voyage to the New World, the imposition of Columbus’ will upon the natives, and the subsequent indigenous rebellion. Cognizant of his limited budget, producer Costa elects to film in Bolivia, the poorest country in South America. There, impoverished locals are thrilled to earn just two dollars a day as extras in the film, and willingly engage in physical labor for set preparation. Costa saves many thousands of dollars by having underpaid extras perform tasks meant to be completed by experienced engineers.

Sebastián casts a local man named Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri) in the role of Atuey, the Taíno chief who led a rebellion against the Europeans; and Daniel's daughter Belén in a crucial role as well. At that time, although their first encounter with Daniel smelled like trouble to Costa, enough to oppose his casting, Sebastian is unaware that Daniel leads impassioned demonstrations against the water privatization that the Bolivian government had agreed to. Filming begins smoothly despite the alcoholism of actor Anton, (Kara Elejade) cast as Colon (Columbus), but when Costa observes Daniel’s revolutionary involvement, he grows uneasy. Daniel pretends to acquiesce to Costa's insistence that he stop protesting, but heedlessly continues and sustains facial wounds in a clash with the police. At this point, Costa bribes Daniel with thousands of dollars to wait for filming to conclude before participating in the rebellion again. Daniel agrees, accepting the money, but remains active in the protests, spending Costa's money to support them, eventually becoming bloodied and imprisoned. Sebastián experiences moral conflict and begins to doubt the likelihood of the film’s completion, but is reassured by Costa who bribes the police for Daniel’s temporary release in order to film a key movie scene. Upon this scene’s completion, police arrive in the Bolivan jungle to once again detain Daniel but are besieged by the film’s extras and Daniel escapes.

That night when starring actors Juan and Alberto see the latest news reports showing war-like violence in Cochabamba, they become worried to the extent that they demand to leave. Sebastián begs that they stay and they hesitantly agree. The next day, as the cast and crew prepare to depart for filming, Costa is met by Daniel’s wife, Teresa, who desperately implores him to assist her in finding her daughter Belén, who has disappeared into the protests and is reportedly wounded and needing hospitalization. Teresa’s persistence wins over Costa’s conscience, and despite Sebastián's equally impassioned insistence he leaves with her. After Costa and Teresa's obstacle-laden drive through riotous Cochabamba, Belén’s life is preserved, but her leg does not fully heal. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is stopped by a military blockade and all except Antón leave Sebastián to journey home. The revolution ends shortly thereafter with the departure of the multinational water company, but Cochabamba is left in ruin from the conflict. Costa expresses hope that the film will be finished after all, and Daniel emotionally presents him with a vial of Bolivian water in appreciation for his life-saving efforts.

Cast

Release

The film premiered on September 16, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival, then debuted during October of the same year in the USA (Los Angeles, California); Britain (London Film Festival); and Spain (Valladolid Film Festival).[2] It made its French debut at the Les Arcs International Film Festival in December 2010.[2] It was screened in the Main Programme of the Panorama section at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and additionally during the 2011 Sydney Film Festival.[3] After special screenings in Cochabamba's Southern Zone and for the Bolivian press, it opened in Bolivia on twelve screens on March 17, 2011.[4]

Reception

Awards

Academy Award Entry

The film was selected in September 2010 over Daniel Monzón’s Cell 211 which also stars Luis Tosar, as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 83rd Academy Awards.[5] In January 2011, it landed a spot on the list of the top nine films in its category.[6] However, it was not selected to be among the final five films nominated for the Oscar.

Ariel Awards

Berlin International Film Festival

Cinema Writers Circle Awards

Won
Nominated

European Film Awards Nomination

Goya Awards

Won
Nominated

Palm Springs International Film Festival

Latin ACE Awards

Spanish Music Awards

Critical Response

The film received generally positive reviews, earning an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but some critics pointed out potential hypocrisy as a shortcoming.[7] Roger Ebert admires the filmmakers’ courage in choosing the Bolivian water crisis as subject matter, but notes potential hypocrisy, writing, “…at the end I looked in vain for a credit saying, ‘No extras were underpaid in the making of this film.’”[8] New York Times writer Stephen Holden also raises this concern, asserting, “You can’t help but wonder to what degree its makers exploited the extras recruited to play 16th-century Indians.”[9] Also, Holden addresses Costa’s transformation, writing, “Mr. Tosar goes as far as he can to make the character’s change of heart believable, but he can’t accomplish the impossible.”[9] Contrarily, Marshall Fine of the Huffington Post views Tosar’s efforts as praiseworthy, calling him “perfect as the producer: bull-headed, charming, conniving and wheedling when he needs to be – but a man with a vision, who ultimately gets his mind changed. Tosar makes his conflict not only credible but palpable.”[10] Praising the film overall, Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post calls Even the Rain “a story in which personal connections can transcend even the most crushing structures of history and politics.”[11]

Bolivian water crisis

History

The restoration of civilian rule to Bolivia in 1982 ended decades of military dictatorships, but did not bring economic stability. In 1985, with hyperinflation at an annual rate of 25 thousand percent, few foreign investors would do business in the country.[12] The Bolivian government turned to the World Bank as a last refuge against economic meltdown. For the next 20 years, successive governments followed the World Bank's provisions in order to qualify for continued loans from the organization.[12] In order to move towards independent development, Bolivia privatised its railways, telephone system, national airlines, and hydrocarbon industry. In October 1999, the privatization of Cochabamba's municipal water supply followed, allowed by a new law and the investment of a new firm, Aguas del Tunari – a joint venture involving San Francisco-based Bechtel Corporation –. The agreement involved the firm investing in a long-envisioned dam so they dramatically raised water rates.[13] Protests, largely organized through the Coordinadora in Defense of Water and Life, a community coalition, erupted in January, February, and April 2000, culminating in tens of thousands marching downtown and battling police. In April 2000, the national government reached an agreement with the Coordinadora to reverse the privatization. The wave of demonstrations and police violence was described as a public uprising against water prices.[14]

Further viewing

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Even The Rain". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Even The Rain Release Dates". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  3. ↑ "Panorama 2011 with Renowned Directors, Three Films on India and Many New Discoveries". berlinale.de. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  4. ↑ ""También la lluvia" se estrena oficialmente en Cochabamba". Los Tiempos (Cochabamba). 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  5. ↑ "Bollaín's Even the Rain joins Oscar race". cineuropa. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  6. ↑ "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
  7. ↑ "Even the Rain (Meme La Pluie) (2011)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  8. ↑ "Even the Rain". Chicago Sun Times (rogerebert.suntimes.com). 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  9. 1 2 Holden, Stephen (2011-02-17). "Discovering Columbus’s Exploitation". New York Times (movies.nytimes.com). Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  10. ↑ Fine, Marshall (2011-02-18). "HuffPost Review: Even the Rain". Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com). Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  11. ↑ "A perfect storm of past and present". Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  12. 1 2 William Finnegan (2002-04-08). "Leasing The Rain". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Private passions". The Economist. 2003-07-17. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ Joshua Clover, "Cinema for a Grand New Game," Film Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 4, Summer 2009.
  16. ↑ Timeline: Cochabamba Water Revolt, PBS.org
  17. ↑ THE CORPORATION 18/23 Expansion Plan. Official shareware version of the film on YouTube

External links

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