Even the Rain (Meme La Pluie) poster & wallpaper
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Luis Tosar, Gael García Bernal, Juan Carlos Aduviri, Karra Elejalde, Carlos Santos ... see more see more... , Raúl Arévalo , Najwa Nimri

TAMBIEN LA LLUVIA sets up an intriguing dialogue about Spanish imperialism through incidents taking place some 500 years apart, while examining the personal belief systems of the members of a film cre... read more read more...w headed by director Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his producer Costa (Luis Tosar) who arrive in Bolivia to make a revisionist film about the conquest of Latin America. Set in February and March of 2000 when real-life protests against the privatization of water rocked the nation, the film reflexively blurs the line between fiction and reality in what Variety calls "a powerful, richly layered indictment of the plight of Latin America's dispossessed." Carlos Aduviri is dynamic as a local who is cast as a 15th century native in the film, but when the make-up and loin cloth come off, he sails into action protesting his community's deprivation of water at the hands of the government. Meanwhile, Gael Garcia Bernal's Idealist film director is as relentless as Werner Herzog infamously was in making FITZCARALDO, pushing ahead against all odds, ignoring the prevailing danger about to disrupt at any moment. Despite the devastation emerging around him, Sebastian seems unable to engage with any emotion over than a dogmatic desire to get his film done. And of course, the film also recalls themes in Herzog's AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD and the film-within-a-film scenes are as brutal as any in APOCALYPTO. -- (C) Official Site

Flixster Users

84% liked it

5,375 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

58 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Iciar Bollain

Release Date: February 18, 2011

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DVD Release Date: May 16, 2011

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Stats: 222 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (222)

  • axadntpron
    March 28, 2012
    axadntpron
    Dedicated to Howard Zinn, the famous New Left historian, Even the Rain looks at imperialism from the perspective of the exploited. It is an interesting effort, but one that feels incredibly heavy-handed & propagandistic.
    I appreciate that the film has good intentions, but the di... read morealogue is so on the nose and the director has such a ferocious hatred for subtlety, that it makes me resistant to the whole endeavor. Not even Gael Garcia Bernal's dashing looks can distract me from the film's hagiographical take on peasant uprisings.
    If you are really swept up in the 99% movement, then this film is meant to arouse you. However, if you like films that make you think as opposed to ones that drown you in ideology, then this film will offer you little more than one cool homage to Fellini's La Dolce Vita.
  • blacksheepboy
    January 21, 2011
    blacksheepboy
    An intriguing Spanish drama that raises many questions about morality without ever giving in to easy answers. All characters are well constructed and have solid motivations for their actions, and the story makes some curious parallels between the early colonization of America and... read more modern-day imperialism.
  • gator681
    May 12, 2012
    gator681
    On location for a film shoot in Bolivia, Sebastian(Gael Garcia Bernal), the director, arranges for an open call which brings out a very long line of applicants which ends up driving his producer Costa(Luis Tosar) to chocolate. At first, Sebastian agrees to compromise before goin... read moreg ahead and seeing everybody, anyway. Of particular interest is Daniel(Juan Carlos Aduviri) and his daughter Belen(Milena Soliz) which still does not make Costa happy until he sees a screen test of Daniel in full makeup. That's not the only local point of interest, as Maria(Cassandra Ciangherotti), a videographer assigned to the production, stumbles across some of the locals fighting for water rights.

    Written by Paul Laverty and dedicated to the memory of Howard Zinn, "Even the Rain" is a superb movie that has done a powerful job of linking Columbus' voyages to America, as seen through the eyes of Montesinos(Raul Arevalo), a Spanish monk who was sympathetic to the natives, to the recent Water Wars of Bolivia, showing the continuation of the exploitation in Year 508, as Noam Chomsky would put it, with the novel device of using a film production as background. Yes, Daniel does not need to say there are more important things than making a film but it is a worthy sentiment nonetheless. The movie also works on a personal level, detailing the loneliness of the long distance actor, via Anton's(Karra Elejalde) drinking, as one cannot be in one place for very long without being affected somehow. And I know Gael Garcia Bernal is supposed to be the star here but it is Luis Tosar who steals the show with his observational gaze.
  • kylemydude
    March 15, 2011
    kylemydude
    A high 8, low 9 out of 10. More to come...
  • fb1112584705
    November 11, 2011
    fb1112584705
    An AMAZING build up! Gael Garcia is one of my favorite contemporary actors today. Since Motorcycle Diaries he's been seen to me as one of our biggest, most committed risk takers. This film (subtitled) took me back there for a bit. To the fight. They do an amazing job of building ... read moresuspense, the script drew an awesome parallel to Columbus and a modern day 3rd world country - the cinematography captured it. This is an INSTANT PLAY on Netflix so be sure to check it out and throw the filmmakers some love!
  • NoxInvictus
    August 19, 2011
    NoxInvictus
    I really liked it, but there's just one thing that prevented me from giving this a higher rating. It's great when characters undergo a major change of heart and all, but I hate it when a character will just switch from one thing to something entirely else without a defining momen... read moret. It makes it so much less credible!

    That being said, it's still a movie I'd recommend. Actors did a great job and a lot of the scenes hit you right in the heart (in a good way, of course).
  • reelinspiration
    August 1, 2011
    reelinspiration
    Gorgeous! Inspiring in it's epic scope and theme as well as the attention to detail to Spanish and Inca history.

View All Even the Rain (Meme La Pluie) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rick Groen
May 6, 2011
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

A film within a film within a film, Even the Rain holds up a hall of mirrors to the Third World and invites us to look in. Full Review

Linda Barnard
May 5, 2011
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

The most outstanding performance comes from Aduviri, an indigenous Aymara from Bolivia, who was nominated for the Best Newcomer award at Spain's Oscars, the Goyas. Full Review

Ben Sachs
April 15, 2011
Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

Director Iciar Bollain remains such an extraordinary director of actors that in every scene some surprising nuance counters the literalism of the script. Full Review

Roger Moore
March 11, 2011
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Well-acted and always with an ear for its own social relevance. Full Review

Steven Rea
March 10, 2011
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Even the Rain strikes a deep and resonant chord. Full Review

Loren King
March 3, 2011
Loren King, Boston Globe

An ambitious mix of politics, religion, art, and human drama. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
February 25, 2011
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Telling an old story in a new way and infusing what might have been a dry political polemic with poetry, passion and unlikely warmth. Full Review

Roger Ebert
February 25, 2011
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The performance by Luis Tosar as the producer is confident and sturdy. Gael Garcia Bernal, as the director, is wimpy and not clearly defined, but that's in the nature of the character. Full Review

Colin Covert
February 24, 2011
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

When a film opens with a dedication to the late Howard Zinn, a proudly radical historian, you know you're in for a spell of progressive, populist storytelling. Full Review

Peter Rainer
February 19, 2011
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

There are, inevitably, a couple of riveting moments mixed in with the agitprop. Full Review

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