If the name Gael García Bernal doesn’t sound familiar, he is probably one of the most recognized Mexican actors having appeared in the Academy Award nominated films “Amores Perros”, “Y Tu Mamá También”, The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Babel”. In “Even The Rain”, he plays a film director named Sebastian who leads a Spanish film crew to Bolivia to take advantage of the fact that movie extras will work for $2 a day. He is making a film about Christopher Columbus which will focus on the exploitataion of the indigenous people. During an open casting which almost turns to a riot, he hires a local man, Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri), to play the rebel Indian leader and also to help placate the extras. Daniel has other things on his mind as he is also the lead of a real life rebellion against a multinational's plans to privatize water (hence the title since they want to even tax the rain) which while making him a perfect cast for the film, his actions get him in trouble and start affecting the shooting schedule of the film.
The interesting thing about the film is that it realistically looks at something all too real in modern day rights crusaders. His film is about righting past wrongs, but he is showing little tolerance for the modern plight of the people he is exploiting to get his film made. He seems to care more about getting his ideas across on film than in the safety of his cast and crew as his obsession grows until finally allowed to burst. By interspearcing his fictional film footage with that of the actual protests, it nicely blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality. Following in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood and the like, longtime actress turned film director Icíar Bollaín is showing a wonderful grasp of how to make a riveting film and getting the most out of her actors.
This film doesn’t have the gloss of Hollywood films, but it does capture the heart of what makes for a great film by avoiding a lot of the overpreaching that films of this type normally have. A great film (made the short list of foreign movie nominees for the Academy Awards) for any wanna be film people here in Michigan. I give the film an A- as it starts it’s Detroit run on March 11th at the Main Art Theatre.
