También La Lluva

The film Tambien La Lluva connects the making of a judicial film with the horrific plot of present day conflict. Interspersing scenes of Sebastian’s film about Columbus amidst the water wars of Bolivia allows the viewer to better recognize the similarities between the events. This link is emphasized as the line between fiction and reality is erased in a pivotal point during the sacrifice scene in the Columbus movie. Hatuey (aka. Daniel) uses his last moments of life to denounce the Christian faith and motivate the crowd of indigenous people to fight against their control. The scene up to this point has used long takes to let the emotion of the action sink in. There were also several rack focus shots. This served to shift between the moral and cultural divide between the Christian priests and generals and the struggle of the indigenous characters. Finally, one of the most striking shots in the scene is a low angle shot of the thirteen crosses. The angle, for me, implied an innocent perspective. This could be meant as a view from a child’s eyes or an indigenous spectator. From this perspective the viewer becomes overwhelmed with feelings of confusion and injustice towards the Spaniards. The viewer is then jolted back to reality as the scene cuts to a shot of the director, Sebastian, congratulating the crew with a megaphone. This low angle, three quarter shot emphasizes his power over the set and actors and makes the viewer feel he is on top of the world, both metaphorically and literally on top of a hill. As the Columbus scene ends a government vehicle pulls up and policemen begin to arrest Daniel for crimes in the water wars. The natives of Bolivia, still dressed as natives of 500 years in the past, attack a modern day car. A policeman initially drags Daniel into the frame as if the past is being forced to confront the present. The group of supporters for Daniel run into the frame from left to right, bursting through the natural order of events. The cuts become quicker as the tension of the action of the scene builds. The viewer sees the last native escape and then it cuts to a long take of Sebastian and Costa. The length of the shot expresses the awe of both the characters and the viewer as the irony of reality fully sinks in.