‘Before the Rains’ | 3 stars
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
Lust, deception, exploitation, cowardice and betrayal — this is the stuff of simmering melodrama.
It’s also a metaphor for the British rule of India in “Before the Rains,” a glum but often compelling look at life in the waning days of the Raj. (It opens today at Studio 30.)
Released under the Merchant Ivory banner but written, directed and photographed by Indian filmmaker Santosh Sivan, “Before the Rains” centers on the relationship between two men from different worlds.
Henry Moores (Linus Roache) is an English spice merchant living in 1937 India. His associate T.K. (Rahul Bose) is an Indian taught in British schools who has completely bought into the whole king-and-country business. Along the way T.K. has deluded himself into thinking that he and Moores are equals.
Moores has a grand plan to build a road through the jungle to the mountains where so much of his product is grown. He has to move fast before the annual monsoons arrive. T.K., a native of the local village, is invaluable for his ability to wheel and deal with the workers who will make it happen.
As the film begins, they have just received a bank loan to start work. Moores thanks T.K. by presenting him with a new pistol. Why a pistol? Well, as the theater adage dictates, if you introduce a gun in Act I, somebody had better pick it up by Act III.
Turns out Moores has more on his mind than road building. While his wife and young son are visiting England, he has begun an affair with the family’s housekeeper, Sajani (Nandita Das). This dalliance is dangerous to both of them, but especially to Sajani, who is married.
T.K. disapproves but says nothing.
But when Sajani’s thuggish husband begins to suspect, she comes to Moores, expecting him to make good on his promise to leave his wife (Jennifer Ehle), who has recently returned to India.
That isn’t going to happen. Moores orders T.K. to take the heartbroken Sajani far away. But problems like this aren’t so easily swept under the rug.
“Before the Rains” isn’t in the same league as Sivan’s earlier film, 1999’s “The Terrorist,” about a girl recruited to be a suicide bomber. This time around the political subtext is far from subtle.
But it’s well-acted and beautifully photographed while nicely capturing the extremes of life in a colonial atmosphere.
The Brits here always talk about how tribal law is unsophisticated and cruel. But in this confrontation between civilization and primitive culture, it’s hard to see that either side has claimed the high moral ground.
‘BEFORE THE RAINS’ ★★★
Director: Santosh Sivan
Cast: Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das
Rated: PG-13 for violent content, sexuality; some dialogue in Malayalam with subtitles
Running time: 1:38
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