También la lluvia uses true invention as a means to show the congratulatory behavior of films that thend to exploit victims of tragedy as a means to sell tickets to audiences (as seen through Costa’s character). In the end, though, one can’t help but wonder just how much También la lluviadoes the very exploitation it wishes to expose.
También la lluvia is a pastiche of other films and historical records that recall Columbus’s arrival to the Americas, but the postmodernist technique of telling that story through the characters’ perspective instead of the director’s is refreshing and impactful to the viewers.
The irony comes from the fact that while trying to portray the exploitation and cruelties of Columbus, the producers are inflicting a level of exploitation by not paying the workers a lot.
También la lluvia breaks down the role of a film by superimposing the viewer in the creative process of producing a film. This really allowed the hypocrisy of the filmmakers to really show in presenting a story about a native insurrection against Columbus.
This film beautifully presents aspects of neorealism, historical, and postmodernism. I want to focus on the postmodernism, specifically the character of Antón. Antón is the embodiment of postmodernism. He is both a victim and critic of modernism.
This film is almost an ode to Native Americans, as a way to highlight the struggles they have experienced for centuries, and bringing them into a modern context.
Whether it’s the fact we live on stolen indigenous land or just lack of knowledge, all of society has become part of the oppression.
Once Costa decides to find Belén and bring her to the hospital, we no longer see the riot through the news—we are completely immersed in it. This transition regarding how the riot is shown to us also reflects Costa’s progression from a distant observer to an active partaker in these events.
The individuals were engaging in conversation and exchanging pleasantries, while the sounds of the protest, like screams and gunshots, could be clearly heard. This contrast of sounds really seemed to speak to the ability of privileged people to ignore the dire issues unfolding around them and live their normal, happy lives.
Another scene which illustrates this is when Sebastián brags to the sponsors of the film that they’re only paying the extras two dollars a day, alongside the conquistadors giving trinkets to the Arawaks and saying they need to bring the conquistadors gold in exchange for leniency. These unfair bargains are deliberately meant to reward the indigenous people as little as possible and keep power in the hands of the dominant group.
the film also connects on a Neo-Realist aspect through showing the struggles of poverty amongst the civilians of Bolivia through their struggles to obtain items that the average person has.