Before the Rain, He Said

Henry Moores, played by Linus Roache is a man of many facets. In the opening scenes, we see him side - by - side with his Indian partner T. K., played by Rahul Bose,as they plan and dream of expanding the spice plantation. He seems to be a progressive man who values his native friend both as a man and as a co-worker. This is no small gesture in southern India in 1938. The British are barely hanging on to their colony and anti-British sentiment is sucking all of the oxygen out of the air. T. K. believes in progress and feels that by working with Moores, he can better his community and therefore his country. He comes to see those who seek rebellion as people who can not move on to the modern world, but are stuck in the past. Moores and T. K. are going to build a road into the mountains so they can harvest more spices and expand their business. The road must be done "Before the Rains".

When Moores returns to his house after his days work, we quickly realize that he is having a love affair with his Indian house maid Sajani (Nandita Das ). Their affair is so far been hidden, even from T.K., but a romp in the forest is interupted by two small village children. Moores dismisses the incident.

The deception deepens as we find out that Moores is married and his wife and child are returning from holiday in England. Laura Moores, played by Jennifer Ehle brings her love and devotion and the warning that her father thinks her a fool for trusting her life to a man such as Moores. Moores takes all of this with good humor, but it is clear the pressure is building. His wife has no reason to suspect that Moores is anything but commited to her and their future. In fact , she befriends Sanjani and compliments her for taking such good care of her husband and house in her abcense.

Sanjani is also married to a crude and hostile man who is jealous an violent. Her brother, a good friend of T. K.'s is also very protective of her and is supicious of the situation at the Moores house.

The tension is drawn tighter as Moores takes out a loan for the construction of the road. The conditions are that it mus tbe completed before the Monsoon season and it must not wash away when the rains come. T. K. has assured Moores that his design will prevent the errosion of the road.

Aside from the monsoon destroying his road, the element that can destroy Moores and shatter his dream is his relationship with Sanjani. And like every love affair that is to be kept private, this one proves impossible to hide and leads to Moores downfall.

But this story is not just a story of misplaced passion. Moores believes he is the future for this area and it's people. He is like a lot of people who champion the downtrodden only to find out the people he wants to help may not want his help. The changes he brings maybe frightening and destabilizing. Throwing over tradition always means displacing power and those with power do not merely step aside. Yes, there is little doubt that Moores deserves his fate in this story, but the undercurrent is clarly true also. By destroying Moores other purposes were served. Moores weakness for Sanjani was a convenient tool for his enemies to destroy him.

The style of this film is typical Merchant Ivory. Filmed with rich and colorful scenes where the camera lingers just long enough to pass on the flavor of the setting without making it anything more than the spice in the stew. Roache and company do a superb job of making these people come to life and compel us to know them and what they are all about. In the vin of "Painted Veil", this cautionary tale about the clash of civilizations is most note worthy for its respect for the cultures involved and an evenhanded judgement of the times.

Bella, He Said

Bella, a 2006 film, only recently available on DVD, is a heart wrenching tale of personal growth and redemption. Director, writer Alejandro Gomez Monteverde presents his story in an intriguing series of revelations about the characters that always challenges our first impressions.

When the film opens, Jose, played by Eduardo Verástegui, is sitting on a beach his full beard and long flowing hair and his penetrating eyes give him a Christlke look. Jose's fascination with one girl playing in the surf with other children is disturbing enough tp cause a man to summon his children to his side, as if to protect them.
Then we flash back to an earlier day. Jose is being idolized by the neighborhood kids. He has just signed a contract to play professional soccer. He and his manager are leaving the New Jersey neighborhood, where his family lives, to attend his first big press conference. The old Caddy convertible rolls down the residential streets as the two men get into an animated conversation about Jose's impending interview. The music from the radio is hot salsa and the conversation becomes more intense. The speed of the car and the lack of attention portends disaster, but than we flash forward.

I'm not a huge fan of the flashback technique. There are many ways to set up history without going backwards and forwards multiple times. That being said, it is used about as well as can be done in this film. One of the things the director must do is establish in the minds of the viewer which era he is watching. Monteverde uses facial hair on Jose as a time setter. When we are back in the good old days he is relatively clean shaven. When we are in the present, he is full bearded. Also, and this one really bothered me, he wears his chefs white coat in every scene that is in the present. There were so many times I just wanted to scream," take that damn thing off!" As it happens, there is a scene toward the end of the film when his removal of tthe chef's coat is highly symbolic.

Chef's coat? We learn as the story develops that for whatever reason, the soccer career is over and Jose is laboring as the indispensable head chef in his bother Manny's upscale Manhattan restaurant. Manny is the hard driving boss with little concern for anything but his customers. Manny fires a waitress, Nina, played by Tammy Blanchard. In an impetuous move, Jose follows Nina to return a stuffed animal that has fallen out of her bag, only to find himself spending the entire day with her.

They slowly reveal their stories to each other as a bond grows between them. First it's their mutual problems with Manny, who is depicted as dictatorial and unfeeling. Than there is the problem of Nina's newly discovered pregnancy and what she will do with the situation. Later we get the story of why he is not playing soccer and why he is so insistent that she has her baby, even if she adopts the child to others.

The resolution of all these problems are built on the platfrm of the strong family Jose leans on and that welcomes Nina in her hour of need. Tearjerker? Yes. Maybe it's just that the characters in this film are slowly and strongly built that we care about them. Maybe it's a clear eyed look at one soluiton to an unwanted pregnancy. Maybe it's one more look at a successful immigrant family in a time that immigrants are once again in our long history of assimilation are under attack. For these and many more reasons, this is an excellent film and one that will stick with me for quiet a while.