When Cultures Collide: Even the Rain Film Review

I recently jumped at the opportunity to review the new Spanish film Even the Rain.






Review:

This film follows the fictional Spanish film director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) as he struggles to shoot a controversial film about the Spanish conquest of the New World.  Moved by the plight of the indigenous Taíno as expressed in the writings of 16th-century Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas, Sebastián pens a script that he feels will finally portray Columbus and his Spanish brethren for what they were... brutal, genocidal, conquerors who savagely subdued and forcibly converted the native Taíno population in the West Indies.

The only problem is that the Indians are actually Quechua and the Caribbean is the mountain highlands outside Cochabamba, Bolivia. Such inaccuracies are no mere oversights but rather the brilliant plan of director Sebastián and his film partner Costa (Luis Tosar) to recreate their version of the Spanish conquest on a shoe-string budget.

When a Bolivian government plan to privatize the local water supply leads to popular uprisings, life starts to imitate art. Will the director be able to finish his beloved project or will the very real indigenous uprising playing out before him cause it all to come crashing down?

As Spain's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 83rd annual Academy Awards, Even the Rain draws on an eclectic mix of talent. Perennial favorite Bernal is his usual high-strung self in the role of the obsessive director Sebastián, the perfect foil to Tosar's rough-edged yet sensitive Costa. Both of them are outshined by first time actor Juan Carlos Aduviri, whose breakout performance as two indigenous leaders, one fighting Columbus and the other the Bolivian government, really sets the film in motion.

The real star of the film however is the script penned by British screenwriter Paul Laverty. Drawing on his first-hand experience traveling through war torn Central America in the 1980s, Laverty creates a tale of filmmaking gone awry that dares to let it's characters waver in morally ambiguous territory right until the end. He injects just the right amount of flawed humanity into the characters to make them and their perilous decisions into a film drama of the highest caliber.

 The final scene of the film within the film  (Source: Examiner.com)

In the hands of less experienced filmmakers, Even the Rain could easily have turned into an overly preachy, hit-you-over-the-head metaphoric tale about the brutal legacy of colonialism. The film makes it absolutely clear that there was and still is great injustice in this "New World." What isn't clear is just what exactly are the protagonists going to do. Finish the film about the historic oppression to only turn a blind eye to the modern injustice or dare to get involved in a very real and deadly conflict?  It is this ambiguity and the subtle and smart ways it goes about answering these questions where the film succeeds.

Few films dare to tackle both the egotistical, money-driven world of modern filmmaking and the high drama of humanity fighting for its most basic rights. Even the Rain does just that. The result is a work whose message is so abundantly clear yet it is so downright gripping to see it unfold.

Daniel (Aduviri) dressed as the character Hatuey shares a moment with the director Sebastián (Bernal) (Source: nytimes.com)

Comments:

Even the Rain does something unique.  Most films about the indigenous people of the Americas are either costume dramas set in a clearly historic past (The Mission, Dances with Wolves) or they are modern pieces about the realities of indigenous life today (Smoke Signals, Frozen River).

Even the Rain deftly combines these two cinematic genres to create some of the most poignant commentary yet seen on film about the enduring tensions between Native and non-Native people.

The irony is not lost on the audience when the supposedly sympathetic Sebastián, so in love with the kind words of Bartolomé de las Casas, snaps at his indigenous actors, practically demanding they complete a critical scene for his film.  In a sense, he becomes a modern Columbus, a man lording over these indigenous actors, using them to propel his own personal creative vision towards completion.

 Sebastián (Bernal) surrounded by his actors (Source: Examiner.com)

On the flip side, Daniel (played by first time actor Juan Carlos Aduviri) is a man committed to his community who just happens to be cast as the historic indigenous leader Hatuey.  Daniel also leads the real-life water riots that rock Cochabamba at the expense of his continued commitment to the film.  Why would a man care about creating some cinematic masterpiece when he and his community are systematically being deprived of their most basic human rights?

This tension between a man obsessed with a film and a man committed to his community not only provides the main drama but the main lesson in the film.

As someone who actively writes and comments about indigenous issues, it was a lesson I took to heart.  I have to be careful not to end up like Sebastián, so obsessed with some high-brow, philosophical, creative endeavour that I loose sight of the real humanity behind the issue.


I give Even the Rain 3.5 out of 4 stars and declare it required viewing for anyone interested in indigenous depictions in cinema or the history of Latin America.

For more on Native films check out this previous Top 10 list:

Forget Avatar: 10 Compelling Films of Real-Life Indigenous Struggles


Note: This review is based on my original review available here:

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/1076/movie-review-even-the-rain



BLOG NOTE:  Today marks the one year anniversary of Drawing on Indians and what a year it has been.  From Findians to Hipsters, Western Sky to Tribal Chic, it's been a crazy year of cringe-worthy appropriation and thought-provoking activism.

I'm going to take some time off from the blog to focus on other things in my life (job, school, family, etc.) but I encourage you all to check out the other fine blogs featured in the right hand column.  I have a thousand ideas just waiting to hit the page so see you in a few!

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Wounded Bird the "Crow" Indian in Rango

This past week I had the pleasure of attending an advanced screening of the new animated film Rango.

 (c) 2010 - Paramount Pictures (source)

Here's a good plot summary from Wikipedia:

"Rango is a chameleon who lives in a terrarium and constantly seeks to fit in with his surroundings. He finds himself removed from his contemporary American southwest surroundings and ends up in an Old West town in the middle of the Mojave Desert called Dirt, which is populated by various desert critters garbed like characters out of Western fiction. Thinking himself a hero, Rango establishes himself as the town's sheriff, not knowing that people who have held that title do not fare very well in Dirt."

My review for the film is available here.  I gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars:


http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/1073/movie-review-rango


As I write in the review:

"The film plays like a classic Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western crossed with a Nickelodeon kid's comedy with a little Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas thrown in as well. As a Western, the movie has everything from high noon gun battles to bitter fights over water rights to the stereotypical stoic Indian who once again seems incapable of speaking in complete sentences."

That last part refers to the character Wounded Bird.

(c) 2011 - Paramount Pictures (source)

In the film, Wounded Bird plays a bit part as the token town Indian.  He's quiet, mystical, and knows exactly how to track in the wilderness, just like the classic Hollywood Indian.

That being said, he is the source of some comic relief with his one-liners and ends up being a clearly heroic figure in the end.  Then again, the bad pun where Rango refers to Wounded Bird's "ingenuity" only to say "no pun intended" put a bad taste in my mouth.

The official film website over at http://www.rangomovie.com/ includes this description of Wounded Bird:

"A solid creature of the Crow Nation. Wounded Bird draws his inspiration from Native American Indian principles of harmony and quiet observation. His tracking skills are legendary and he's big in Finland for some reason."

I disagree.  Wounded Bird draws his inspiration directly from the scores of Indian depictions in countless Hollywood Westerns.  Rango is filled with every other Western cliche- saloon brawls, corrupt mayors, spineless townfolk, a mysterious stranger- so why not the quiet mystical stereotypical Indian!  It wouldn't be a true homage without one!

Personally, I'm a fan of subverting tired cliches and stereotypes to challenge our expectations and get those cerebral juices flowing.  Rango does just that when the Beans character (voiced by Isla Fisher) subverts the traditional female role to become a gun-slinging, posse riding hero in her own right.

So why couldn't they have done the same thing with Wounded Bird?

 

(c) 2011 - Paramount Pictures (source)

I wonder if writer/director Gore Verbinski ever stopped to think about the Wounded Bird character or simply threw him in as another element in this ode to the Spaghetti Western.  Considering Verbinski made his mark directing the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a fine trio of films full of old cliches and stereotypes, this new character shouldn't come as any surprise.  It's just another example of modern Hollywood's love affair with the classic Hollywood Indian, even if he's an animated bird in a kids comedy.

And in case you're wondering, Wounded Bird is voiced by Gil Birmingham.  He is of Comanche ancestry and is best known for his role in the Twilight series.  I haven't heard his or anyone else's take on the character but I'm always open to other thoughts.

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The Wacky World of TV Tropes

What makes all the mythical, romantic, and stereotypical notions about American Indians so potent and wide spread in modern America?

While there are many answers to this question, one of the most important is simply this: sheer and utter ubiquity.  In almost every form of popular media from television to film to literature to advertising, we are constantly being bombarded with the same creative devices over and over again.  Over time they work their way into our brains and take on a whole new life as tropes.

One of the best websites out there for understanding the power of popular media in shaping the American consciousness is TVtropes.org.  This website is a constantly expanding wikipedia style encyclopedia of tropes from creative works as diverse as video games, theater, music, and new media.  It's tongue and cheek brand of humor and casual tone certainly makes for some entertaining reading.

tvtropes.org

But what exactly is a trope you ask? Here is the working definition from the website:

"Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them."

The website includes innumerable examples relevant to Drawing on Indians and I have excerpted some of them here.  Be sure to click on the link and  scroll down to see just how ubiquitous these tropes are across the media world (and feel free to add any new ones):



Indian Burial Ground

"A common cause for supernatural goings-on in America, commonly seen in movies: A house is haunted or Cursed due to being built on an Ancient Indian Burial Ground. The disturbed spirits of the ancients of the land then enact their bloody vengeance against those who wake them by turning off the lights, making hooting noises, creating flies and maybe, if they feel up to it, killing people."

Noble Savage

"A character who is portrayed as nobler or of higher moral fibre than the norm, due to their race or ethnicity, which is that of a barbaric or savage tribe. (Often regarded as living the Good Old Ways). The savages in question are quite often American Indians, so you could probably call them Mary Sioux. Rare nowadays, except as a Sci Fi alien- though it has made something of a comeback with the idea of Magical Native American people being more in tune with nature than the greedy white people."

Going Native

"There are plenty of people who believe that modern life is rubbish and would like to escape it and go live off the fat of the land. The Going Native trope plays to this fantasy by having a character lifted out of his typical environment and thrust into a new one, only to become a part of that new world. "

Injun Country

"American Indians (also Red Indians, Native Americans, Amerinds, or First Nations) discovered America by walking across a gigantic land bridge from Russia into Alaska. For a few thousand years they just took up space until Europeans rode massive wooden buckets across the ocean and crashed into the eastern shore. After a friendly 'getting to know you' dinner party, the killing started, and lines were drawn between the Civilized World and Injun Country."

Magical Native American

"After centuries of various atrocities (smallpox, Columbus, Custer, the Trail of Tears) perpetuated against "the savages", white people finally came to realize that Native Americans have rich identities and cultures. Furthermore, Native American tribes have their own rich and varied beliefs, many of which hold close to the idea of the value of everything on the earth...Of course, many non-Natives, especially those Hollywood types, saw a complex faith with a focus on ritual and spirits and broke it down to "magic." So, whenever someone needs to bring in a spirit guide, or magical superpowers, they bring in the Magical Native American."

Badass Native

"Indigenous people tend to be, well, poor. Indigenous people also have a tradition of war, unlike the rest of the world. So of course they're badasses. No matter what era, you're in, if you live in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia, indigenous people will be badasses. Rarely seen in the rest of the world, though. The American version of the Badass Native has costuming and prop elements as well. Note that this is Always Male, will often be magical. Overlap with Noble Savage."

 Mighty Whitey 

"A common trope in 18th and 19th century adventure fiction, when vast swathes of the world were being explored and properly documented by Europeans for the first time, Mighty Whitey is usually a displaced white European, of noble descent, who ends up living with native tribespeople and not only learns their ways but also becomes their greatest warrior/leader/representative. Extra points if he woos The Chiefs Daughter along the way."

The Chief's Daughter

"Even in Darkest Africa, Injun Country, or the land of Wild Samoans, Everythings Better With Princesses. The Chief's daughter, in her Fur Bikini or Braids Beads And Buckskins, is often the first to greet or trust Mighty Whitey during his visit to the strange new land. She'll be inexplicably beautiful by Western standards with just enough racial traits to be exotic, and will be a Noble, Nubile Savage compared to the rest of her Barbarian Tribe, and a Friend To All Living Things."

Mayincatec

"Under Hollywood History, all historical Central/South American nations are lumped into one exotic and barbaric people: the Mayincatec, featuring aspects of the Maya, Inca and the Aztecs, plus many others. It's a salad of exciting bits from all their histories, with a topping of myth and fiction. And the dressing is blood."

Pocahontas

Want to see these TV tropes in action?  Well, there isn't a better example out there than the famously flawed 1995 Disney animated film Pocahontas.

One of the best critiques is from regular TVtropes.org contributor The Nostalgia Chick.  Her silly comments and sharp wit add a touch of humor to what could otherwise be a very dry subject.  She also created a video critique of Pocahontas which you will find below:



Part 1 of 2:




Part 2 of 2:  (scroll ahead to 3:38 for the most disturbing Disney movie line ever)




To conclude as only The Nostalgia Chick can:

"And hopefully now we're all a little less educated on our own history. And the movie leaves us with questions like, 'Why are there moose in Virginia? Where did all those majestic cliffs go in the interim 500 years? Why doesn't listening with one's heart bridge language gaps anymore? Why does Pocahontas lack a real nose — was she really fathered by Lord Voldemort?' Really, it's best not to think about it — the great mouse in the sky certainly doesn't want you to."

For more on Pocahontas, check out this previous post:

Portraying Pocahontas: or the Not-So-Modern Origins of the "Sexy Indian Princess"


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1930 Newsreel Mocks Indians

Check out this black and white newsreel from 1930.  The description from the website seems innocent enough...

"A 1930 newsreel of Calvin Coolidge at the dedication ceremony for the dam named after him and he smokes a peace pipe with a Pima chief and an Apache chief after a meal on top of the dam."

But go ahead and watch the video yourself:


http://thoughtequitymotion.com/video/clip/1617538_035.do?assetId=asset_9339994/clip_4171075


Here are the highlights from Patrick Bateman (I mean the narrator):

"by irrigating a million acres of land, it will save hundreds of Indians from poverty and suffering."

"See the Indians there.  They're from the Pima and Apache tribes who used to be fighting each other all the time."

"After dinner is always a good time for a puff so Mr. Coolidge smoked the pipe of peace and then handed it to the chief of the Pimas.  After he had a puff, he gave it to the Apache chief who came in his best Sunday feathers.  Looks like an old cigar store sign."

Anyone else want to strangle the narrator?

The narration effectively belittles the Indians into mere stereotypes.  It positions President Coolidge as the great leader of the American people, bringing civilization to those poor backward Indians.

And worst of all, despite the claims in the video, the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation on whose land the dam and reservoir now stand, remains one of the poorest in the country.

I imagine this newsreel was created as post-presidential propaganda for Mr. Coolidge.  It effectively draws on Indians to boost up his image and solidify his legacy as friend to the Indian.  But why it had to be so condescending is more a sign of the times than anything else.

Even more interesting is the keywords section on the website.  Click on "Search Related Keywords" and see how this video was classified.  Thankfully, Thought Equity Motion who hosts this video for educational and commercial purposes correctly chose these three keywords: sadness, propaganda, and spin.  Why sneaky is on there I will never know.

(source: Calvin Coolidge: A Patron Saint for the TEA Party)

Bonus Video:

Here's President Coolidge presiding over a Sioux powwow.  Coolidge claimed Indian heritage and was actually given the Indian title "Chief Leading Eagle."  Hence, the one line in the video:


http://thoughtequitymotion.com/video/clip/4932663342_169.do?assetId=asset_9340000/clip_15436424

And yes, he's wearing a headdress.  (which considering the context and the groups involved, actually makes sense for a change!)

Forget Avatar: 10 Compelling Films of Real-Life Indigenous Struggles

One of the main reasons I started this blog almost six months ago was my experience with a little film by the name of Avatar.  It proved so influential that my very first real blog post was all about Avatar:

Blue Monkey Indians!

Since then my experience with native cinema has expanded considerably.  There are tons of great films out there about real life indigenous struggles yet Avatar gets all the hype!  Not fair.  With that in mind I put together the following list:


Forget Avatar: 10 Compelling Films of Real-Life Indigenous Struggles


I chose films that both fit the theme and were high quality. I also picked more obscure but noteworthy films and tried to get a good geographic spread.

What do you think?  Do any of them not belong on the list?  Is the list missing any crucial films?

It is posted over at videohound's movieretriever.com

Special thanks to Mike T. for hosting the list! 

Avatar update- Cameron goes native!

From this morning's New York Times-

Amazon tribes find ally out of "Avatar"

Well, it was only a matter of time before the Avatar-Indian connection went mainstream.  In Brazil, there is a plan to build a dam in the Amazon river basin that would flood hundreds of square miles and displace thousands of indigenous people.  In many ways, this situation perfectly parallels the construction of numerous dams in the American west including the ambitious 1944 Pick-Sloan plan for the Missouri River basin.  A series of dams were built to control flooding, provide irrigation, create hydroelectric power, and regulate water levels for river traffic along the Missouri.  In the process, millions of acres of prime river bottom farmland were flooded.  Working at the Knife River Indian Villages in North Dakota, I always included the story of Garrison Dam as part of my centuries long narrative of the Three Affiliated Tribes.  That dam flooded millions of acres of their homeland and destroyed several towns including the largest city Sanish.  The wounds of this latest injustice are still fresh today and the impact of Garrison Dam is still felt in today's generations.  Need a visual?  This photo pretty much sums up the fight 70 years ago as well as the current fight in the Amazon today.

I applaud the efforts of James Cameron to bring attention to this issue, it sure is going to be a tough fight.  Be sure to check out the audio slideshow as it provides even more insight into this Amazon case.

Blue Monkey Indians!

Avatar... where do I even start.  In many ways, seeing this movie was a prime motivation for starting this blog.  I walked into this film with a more or less open mind.  I had read about the general plot and themes.  I read about the glorious special effects and the $300 million budget.  I even read about how they constructed a whole new alien language for this film!  (and don't get me started on how those resources could have been better used to save one of the hundreds of disappearing real languages!)  So after all that, I donned my 3D glasses, sat down, and awed in the glory of James Cameron's 162 minute master opus.    Or not.

It didn't take long before I started noticing things.  The way the plot was developing, the specific dialogue, the overall themes.  Something didn't seem right.  It seemed just all too familiar.  I finally realized what was happening.  I had seen this movie before!!!

I present to you Exhibit A:

CFV 426 - Avatar/Pocahontas Mashup FINAL VERSION from Randy Szuch on Vimeo.

That's right- Avatar is Pocahontas.  It's not even a metaphor- the plots are literally the same thing.  Young soldier lands in strange new world.  Goes off to make peace with the “natives.”  Falls in love with the impeccably beautiful native princess.  The indigenous population lives in absolute 100% perfect harmony with the natural world around them (unlike those greedy, polluting, capitalist invaders!).  All hell breaks loose and the poor native people tragically suffer.

In many ways, Avatar simply re-imagines the classic stereotype of the noble, primitive Indian- the sons and daughters of the forest living in complete harmony with the natural world around them.  This stereotype has been around for centuries but took on a new meaning in mid-twentieth century America.  With the new age counterculture of the 1960s embracing Indian primitivism as a form of rebellion against modern society combining with the burgeoning environmental movement of the 1970s, you get America's new love affair with the tree-hugging Indian.  Essentially, two popular movements combined  and in the process co-opted the American Indian as its symbol.  Hence the classic TV commercial of the crying Indian and the malicious littering.  Exhibit B:



Popular notions about American Indians tell us that of course they “have a deep abiding respect for the natural beauty that was once this country”!  The reason this type of “Indian” is so pernicious is that it once again traps native people in the cage of primitivism.  It doesn't allow for any complexity of thought, feeling, or action towards the environment.  The historic relationship between native people and the land is just as complicated as the one between settlers and the land.  The relationship between modern native communities and the land is also just as complicated at times.  But then again, when Hollywood drops such a wide-spread cultural phenomenon in your lap, why not take advantage.

Presenting Exhibit C:

Just a few months ago, this appeared in the Oscar edition of Variety magazine. Whatever your stand on the issue of tar sands development in Canada, you can't help but notice the trend that continues today.