Table of Contents
Even the Rain is a film that sought to address issues of oppression in third world countries. It is a Spanish drama film that was directed by Bollain. The film is about a Mexican executive producer, Costa, and the director, Sebastian. The two travel too Bolivia to do a filming of a movie that depicts the conquest of Columbus. The two, Sebastian and Costa, land themselves, unexpectedly, in a moral crisis when they (and their filming crew) arrive at Cochabamba. This is a time that marks some intensifying protests in Cochabamba in the year 2000. The lead actor in this movie, Daniel, leads these protests. The leaders of this production wanted to keep Daniel out of the protests, but Daniel does not relent; he continues his active involvement in the protests. At one time, Costa has given hope that the film will ever be finished. However, at the end he feels that the film, after all, will be finished.
Marxist Ideologies in the Film
Karl Marx is considered to be the father of Political revolutions. This is because he advocated for the empowerment of the masses. He believed that people should determine the leadership to be installed in their societies. He believed that leaders should always serve the interests of all people; Marx (1844) says that, “leaders who were self serving should be replaced with leaders that will advance the good of the masses.” In this light, Marx advocated for revolution that should topple such leadership; the masses should never be oppressed. Even the Rain advances the sentiments contained in Marx’s arguments. The people in Cochabamba oppose the injustices that have been brought by the multinational water company. This company is oppressing the people of Bolivia, and the masses have taken action to push for the removal of the oppressive company. In fact, people engage in street protests that result in violence (Karl, 1844). For instance, Daniel is wounded in these protests.
The film goes against the Marxist sentiments since Costa and Sebastian oppress the poor people they find in Bolivia. The two take advantage of these people, and they pay them two dollars per day. This is oppressive because these people do not have otherwise but to accept the given wage; Costar and Sebastian are the sole decision makers about the pay to the natives. These people are overworked, and Costa and Sebastian think that people are volunteering their labor. However, these people are poor, and they just need some little money. The two leaders of this crew even assign the natives some complex work fit only for qualified engineers. The temptation of free labor is too much to Costa and Sebastian, and they forego the expenses of engineers. The two reflect the ideas of capitalism that Karl Max rejected. They view the natives as machines that should be utilized to realize their value.
The workers employed in this film are estranged since they cannot do other work. They are tied to this work, yet the pay is very little. They do not know the financial power that the film incubates. According to Marx (1844), “poor people produce a lot of wealth, yet they continue to be very poor.” This is because the poor are cut from the main economic class. In this film, people in Cochabamba are protesting because the multinational company has imposed unfair treatment to the people. People want their economic freedom back since they have discovered the oppressiveness of this company. In this film, Daniel is the embodiment of Marxist ideologies. He does not withdraw from the protests when Costa tells him to do so. Daniel believes that he should protest to bring democracy to Bolivia. Daniel is not self serving, and he opposes any attempts of capitalism to dictate the fate of his course. Costa offers Daniel money (lots of it), but Daniel does not abandon his course.
Costa and Sebastian want to film a movie on oppression of the poor, yet they want Daniel not to participate in the protests. In fact, they even offer Daniel thousands of dollars so that he can stop protesting. The interests of these people are self serving, and they just want to complete shooting their movie. In fact, these people are just concerned with the economic side of their film. They are only concerned with the characters they have constructed in the film, but they do not focus on the real lives of these people. This is because there are real demonstrations against oppression, yet these people just focus on the people around their film. It can be said that the film would have done better when filmed using the real demonstrations.
Commodity Fetishism in this Film
This term is used to describe to the constant changing relationships of people in the markets. Karl Marx used this term to refer to the deceptiveness of objects in the environment. In the context of this film, Costa and Sebastian ignore the power of the protests raging in Cochabamba, and eventually, they are caught up in the middle of the protests. In fact, the shooting of the movie has to be stopped since the protests remain unequalled. The environment becomes dangerous to the crew, and they have to go home. They want to evade the likelihood of endangering their lives.
In this film, the relationships of the people changed since Costa goes to save a girl who is wounded in the protests. In so doing, Costa gets to experience, first hand, the effects of the oppression that he sought to address in the film. He understands the effects that oppression has, and he diminishes his ideas that the film will not be completed. In fact, the encounter with the real effect of the protests makes him seek to finish filming the movie. Costa feels that he has achieved since he has learnt the effects of war. At the end of the movie, Daniel gives Costa a vial of Bolivian water to appreciate Costa’s efforts of saving Belen. Costa participates in saving the live of a person in the protests; by extension, he becomes a fighter in the course of justice (a concept contained in his film).
Conclusion
Even the Rain shows that people can participate in activities that will help in the course of democracy, but people can still act as a barrier towards the course of democratic ideologies (Karl and Engels, 1844). Costa and Sebastian are in the process of shooting a movie that depicts oppression of the poor. However, the two oppress the poor in that they do not pay the local workers well. They oppress these workers so that they can save money. The two also bribe Daniel not to be involved in the protests. The two fail to know that the masses have the power to oust oppressive regimes. In fact, the two should have supported Daniel in the course of his fight for Bolivia. However, they do not, and this makes them go against the theme of the movie they are shooting. They just want to display oppression of the people, but they do not want to give the remedies of rectifying this. Therefore, the two are not good ambassadors of their course; they should act to change Bolivia.
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