What Is The Context Of Tambien La Lluvia

In her 2010 film Tambien la Lluvia, Iciar Bollain certainly makes the deleterious consequences of colonial, and neo-colonial exploitation clear. From the very outset of the movie, the viewer is bombarded with the parallelism between the film’s plot and its context; Tambien la Lluvia portrays a Western film crew from Spain attempting to film a movie depicting Columbus’ arrival to the New World, a film they opt to shoot in Bolivia to capitalize on the cheap labour provided by Bolivian people who, during the time of the film being filmed, are engaged in protests and riots against the Bolivian government’s attempts to privatize the water supply on recommendation of the World Bank’s development schemes. The colonial overtones of the Western
It is Costa’s granting of legitimacy to the indigenous water protests that legitimize them to the audience- who relate to the Western white man and accepts his judgment on the issue. In the article Savages and saviours in Icíar Bollaín's También la Lluvia published by Studies in Spanish & Latin American Cinemas, author Andrea Meador Smith discusses how Costa’s redemption arc is emblematic of many of the tropes used to govern the portrayal of the cinematic relationship between white viewers and the ethnic ‘other’, notably the white saviour trope. Costa posits himself at the centre of the revolutionary activity, assuming a role of white saviour as he rescues Belen and is ultimately thanked sincerely by Daniel, who gives him a vial of water (literally the most precious thing Daniel could offer him), a very disturbing parallel to Daniel now being in the debt of the white man. Author Smith argues that this portrayal results in a ‘feel-good’ moment for the white European viewers as they feel joyful that a white man yet again saves the day, and feel absolved of any complicity in the racist, and exploitative structure if only they too care for, and help the ethnic