Well-mannered, high-minded and, despite its potentially inflammatory dramatic arc, curiously tepid.
Before the Rains (2008)
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Jennifer Ehle, John Standing
Screenwriter: Cathy Rabin
Producer: Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding, Paul Hardart, Tom Hardart, Mark Burton
Composer: Mark Kilian
Reviews
Producer Ismail Merchant died in 2005, but Merchant Ivory's stuffy tradition of quality lives on.
One of those dopey romantic epics in which many lives are ruined with gorgeous scenery in the background.
A predictable patchwork of forbidden romance, English arrogance, a gun given as a gift, suicide, corruption, deception, rising Indian nationalism and a short-lived chase through the jungle.
There is something especially insulting about a very adult movie told in very childish terms.
Before the Rains is never less than compelling, but never more than adequately realized.
With all these volatile emotions at play, Before The Rains should percolate like The Postman Always Rings Twice, but… well… it's a Merchant-Ivory production, after all.
It's standard soap opera dramaturgy in wrinkled linens, loincloths and saris.
The problem isn't just that the material is cliched and vaguely offensive....It's more that the plot is incredibly predictable, the score is manipulative and the denouement completely unsatisfying.
Will the rains come? Aye, they will -- and so too the colonialist’s comeuppance. Although by the time it rolls around many will be past caring.
A lovely, lyrical film with perfect timing that is a welcome relief from BlackBerrys, iPods, gas taxes, punk rock, the failing economy and the boredom of cutthroat election campaigns.
Set among the first wave of nationalism that led to India's independence, this highly symbolic story is tautly constructed to create high-wire tension between the oh-so-white British colonialists and the traditional Indian ways.
The first third is frankly plodding, though the story begins to engage us by the midpoint. While there is nothing wrong with Roache's or Das's work, Bose's performance gives it whatever power it has.
[A] fierce, uncompromising critique of... nonchalant imperialism, and maybe even of just men on the whole... Which makes this one of the most sneakily feminist movies I've seen in a while.
A resolutely old fashioned story of personal tribulations played out against a backdrop of political turmoil, Sivan's film is well acted, beautifully photographed and oddly reassuring.
Merchant-Ivory productions are usually visual delights, and Before the Rains is no exception. Pity that the direction and narrative lack passion. If there's anything a story of interracial adultery needs, it's passion.
[This] movie symbolizes the continued erosion of the Merchant Ivory brand into an entity producing films that belong on cable television, not in movie theaters.
So pretty and so utterly lifeless you can almost smell the embalming fluid coming off the screen.
The film is well-acted, a broad colonial allegory, and again, visually gorgeous.
Related Forums
by: FogLike 5/13
News
posted by May 08, 2008
For Before the Rains, his English-language directorial debut, cinematographer Santosh Sivan went back to his roots...


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