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Spain, Mexico, France · 2010
1h 44m
Director Icíar Bollaín
Starring Gael García Bernal, Luis Tosar, Raúl Arévalo, Najwa Nimri
Genre Drama, History
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A director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The producer of the film casts many locals in key roles; these locals are also rising up against plans to privatize the water supply. As violence and unrest increases among the locals, the film is put in jeopardy of being completed.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Deeply felt convictions and first-rate craftsmanship-craftswomanship, in the case of the Spanish director, Icíar Bollaín-win out over contrivance in this parallel drama of exploitation in the New World discovered by Columbus, and in the Bolivia of 2000.
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
More serious-minded than expected, with a unique and savvy point of view.
Iciar Bollain's fifth feature is her most ambitious and best, driving its big ideas home through a tightly knit Paul Laverty script that only falters over the final reel.
The film achieves a mild uptick in the final act, with a surprise change of heart and a race to save a little girl, but up till then it's thickly earnest -- a conquista-bore.
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
That irresistible thing - a movie about the making of a movie - combined with a bit of a history and a political message.
Director Icíar Bollaín mixes Even the Rain's various storytelling modes with an obviousness that ultimately negates enlightening intellectual or emotional discovery.
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
Essentially three movies in one: The staged reenactment of Columbus's expedition, the filming of that staged expedition, and the contemporary local uprising. It's a lot to bite off, especially since Bollaín's budget doesn't seem to be much larger than Sebastián's.
It's to the film's credit that its inescapable conclusion seems in doubt until the very end.
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Farber
While the concept may sound schematic, it is brought to vivid life by wonderful characterizations.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Splendidly panoramic. The scenes of Columbus's arrival and of his imperialist and religious sloganeering, and of the carnage he wreaks, have a grandeur and a force reminiscent of Terrence Malick films. The segments about the chaotic water riots have a documentary immediacy.
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