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BEFORE THE RAINS
Directed by Santosh Sivan
Produced by Mark Burton, Paul Hardart, Tom Hardart, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding
Written by Cathy Rabin, based on the film Red Roofs by Dany Verete
Director of Photography, Sivan
Edited by Steven Cohen & A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by Mark Kilian
Released by Roadside Attractions/Merchant Ivory
English & Malayalam with English subtitles
India/UK/USA. 98 min. PG-13
With Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das & Jennifer Ehle

When I think of films on 20th century colonialism, my mind immediately draws up two popular patterns. One involves the image of a strapping Clark Gable in Red Dust set to conquer the land and tame the savages – colonialism’s own personal poster boy – and the other is the grand sweeping epic that usually results in a sore behind and cramped legs. Granted, an actor like Meryl Streep (Out of Africa) usually makes it worth while, but sitting for three hours watching clichéd imperialist white folks and one-dimensional natives who are either completely submissive or completely rebellious is not my idea of fun. Santosh Sivan’s English language debut, Before the Rains, has its own problems as far as character development, but, at a short 98 minutes, it's a tense and culturally charged critique of both sides of the East/West spectrum.

Set in 1937 southern India, this beautifully photographed film follows the intertwining lives of British spice farmer Henry Moores (Linus Roache), his trusted Indian foreman T.K. (Rahul Bose), and his Indian housemaid Sajani (Nandita Das). With plenty of financial backing, and dreams of making it big in the spice trade, Moores plans to build a road in his vast estate before the big rains hit. He’s also reaping the sexual benefits of a love affair with Sajani, so life is pretty good for the white colonialist. Not that Moores is a bad guy – he and Sajani seem genuinely in love, and he treats T.K. with a close-knit respect found more so between business partners than sahib and worker. But when Moores's wife (Jennifer Ehle) and son return from a trip to England and Sajani disappears, T.K. finds himself trapped between his loyalty to the West and his ties to the East.

Linus Roache and Nandita Das play their parts as the typical English bloke and sizzling Indian woman well, but their romance is too underdeveloped to be convincing. It is Rahul Bose's performance that shines in this film. Compared to his counterparts, T.K. doesn't speak much, but he absorbs every situation and every word spoken, with an intense understanding that one day he will have to choose which side he's on. When cultural tensions boil into an all-out manhunt, and good vs. bad becomes a gray area, his ultimate decision will surprise you. B. Bastron
May 9, 2008