by Mary Ann Skweres
Set in the steamy jungles of southern India during the turbulent nationalist era of the 1930’s, Before the Rains floods the viewer with a visual imagery that powerfully tells the story of an idealist young man (Rahul Bose) torn between two worlds – the desire for a modern future and the tribal beliefs of his past. After the village people discover the illicit affair between his ambitious British boss, a spice plantation owner (Linus Roache), and a household servant, a married village woman (Nandita Das), the characters are plunged deeper and deeper into self-made dilemmas, compounding the sensual liaison into a tragedy that forever changes all their lives.
Producers Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding of Echo Lake Films had a mandate to work with exciting international directors on English language films. Upon a recommendation they viewed Santosh Sivan’s award-winning film, The Terrorist, and knew they wanted to work with the young Indian director and cinematographer. They approached Sivan with a project idea based on the Israeli short film, Red Roofs. The director’s first impression upon seeing the film was that “it was a very simple story.” He described the abstract feelings that prompted him to take on the project: “It’s very strange. You feel that it is something you want to do. It has opportunities to include all the metaphors you are envisioning. I sometimes feel like a story is just an excuse to say whatever you wanted to say.”
Although he normally writes his own screenplays, the director was impressed by the film’s subject matter and the possibility to adapt the story to the Indian village culture he was familiar with. The new adaptation was renamed Before the Rains because the story signals not only a change in the weather, but also the change that the country was going through at the time. Sivan worked with screenwriter Cathy Rabin to alter the location to Kerala, the area in India where he was raised. “As a child I used to wonder who made all these strange, dangerous-looking roads that go up the spice mountains,” he revealed. “There are many stories.”
Although people of his generation have not had the actual experience of living under British rule, the visible signs of that colonial era, such as roads or bridges, still remain. “Cultures have always mingled and clashed,” said Sivan. “People are always curious about other cultures. Also, the film is about man and woman, so sparks can fly. Although the story takes place in 1937, I felt the situation was very universal, irrespective of the time.”
Having lived in the Kerala, Sivan had taken many stills of the area. Old photographs, which showed how the people lived, worked and built the roads also inspired his vision for the film, “There is this museum that has all these black and white photographs. I think that those were the kinds of motifs that I took to make it look like it was happening in the 1930’s.”
After sitting with the writer and getting her into the culture, Sivan said, “The little stories start taking shape, become flesh and blood.” Metaphors abound in the film – the building of the plantation road being one of them. As the story unfolds, it symbolizes the destruction of nature and the old ways. “I think the idea of taking a story that appeals to you and then trying to layer it with all these different things is very interesting,” shared Sivan.
Water is another reoccurring motif in the film – a way of washing away sin or an embrace after death. It is a visual that Sivan used in his film The Terrorist, but he doesn’t just stick to the same ideas. He visually explores new avenues, giving each film its own treatment. “I like every film to have it’s own signature. I don’t think of individual shots. I only look at the film from a whole film point of view. The visual motifs of the film are largely inspired by my cultural influences, our traditional art forms, the way we look at the landscape or the people. All these subconsciously build up.
Sivan shot the film in a style reminiscent of pre-Raphaelite paintings. “I like paintings from that period. There are so many elements. I tried to layer the story in such a way that it makes it more interesting on a second or third viewing. There is always something that you can discover.”
Visually supporting the story, Sivan’s cinematography – especially his use of rack focus and depth of field – strengthens the dramatic intent of the film by drawing the viewer into the characters and emotion. “The focus pulls are like a slow track where you slowly shift the audience to something that you’d like them to see,” informed Sivan. “To shift focus to something that already exists in the frame is also surprising. All of a sudden you see something that you never saw before. I think a gentle focus shift is a really interesting cinematic device that can be used dramatically or in a very subtle way without making a very demonstrative track or a zoom in.”
Sivan made sure that the composition of the frame had something to do with nature. In one scene the leaves of the forest are in sharp focus while the action in the background is strongly blurred, giving the sense that despite being deep within the jungle, the characters are being watched. “That was an interesting way to involve nature,” Sivan commented. “On top of that it is supposedly the sacred grove. When I was shooting, I always kept the landscape in mind as a character that’s also watching and listening.”
In some unconventional frames people are kissing and their faces are close and blurred. Sivan didn’t want the camera to be an observer, but rather to be a part of the scene. In a pivotal sequence between the three main characters – the only scene where the camera is had-held – Sivan shared, “I tried to get into a frame and positioning where the audience is also amongst these three faces in the midst of the whole scene.”
The transitions between scenes further supported the strong visuals of the film. Sivan admits, “For me the visual language is primary. I have made films in different languages, but what uniformly runs thought them all is the visual language. Before we approach a scene, we always make sure that the actors understand the continuity of the scenes before and after. The same thing with the shots. You look back at the previous scene and see the last shot and then figure out how to gracefully come into the next scene. Even if you have not shot it yet, it’s always best to think about how you are going to do it. Once a clear decision is made, we approach the scene and without fail, I think you will end up with interesting transitions that will have subtlety.”
Sivan was going for a conventional, not contemporary, look to the film. “I wanted to subtly give the period feel without actually trying to alter the visual with a sepia color or anything like that, but at the same time to give a sense of the period without overpowering everything else,” he shared. “Lighting-wise, it was about using a golden light clashing with the cold blue of the dawn and night. I tried to find a contrast between the light in terms of its color temperature as well as the light and shade, and also purely in terms of its softness. I tried to film during these moments when the light was sleeping, when it was going through a transition between night to day or day to night…those kinds of moments. I always think that time is the most beautiful because things are not quite revealed.”
The top-notch international cast came from England, Hollywood, Mumbai, and included known local actors. They brought different styles of working to the production. The fact that Sivan was also the camera operator added an unusual challenge for some of the actors. “Everything was an experience. I think when you are on the edge, new things come out,” shared Sivan. He was pleased with all the performances and had special praise for Jennifer Ehle who plays the plantation owner’s wife. “I really liked Jennifer’s character, even though it was a smaller role, I thought it was fantastic.”
There were no rehearsals with the actors in pre-production. Sivan blocked scenes on set before lighting. Once he and the cast were comfortable with positioning and how the scene was to play out, the actors went to make-up and he lit the set. When all were ready, they shot the scene. “You always have an idea of how you want it to go, but it is important to involve the actors. Sometimes when they interpret a scene, it throws up surprises, which I can accept or reject. I’m always open for surprises,” revealed Sivan. “I leave a certain amount of flexibility in positioning and movement. I like filmmaking to be organic. If we get excited, we might shoot things that are not planned.”
Because it was impossible to find a village like the one needed for the film, production designer, Sunil Babu and his local art department built an entire village of over thirty structures, including a bridge and local ferry, from scratch. The colonial house existed as a shell, which the production added onto. Costumes, props and set dressing such as drapery were handmade by local craftspeople. “We do a lot of sets in India and have the people who are able to create these things,” said Sivan. Paul Schwartz and his production sound crew were imported from London because Sivan needed someone who could cover the British accents correctly. “Otherwise you’d have everyone speaking with an Indian accent.”
The film was shot in 32 days. It was processed in India but post was completed in Los Angeles. Due to all the subtitles needed in the film, Sivan did a digital intermediate to avoid an optical dupe negative. Regardless, he made sure he got what he wanted in the camera, avoiding a lot of secondary color correction. The film was shot on a 535 camera with prime lenses and old-fashioned cranes (not the electronic ones). Because a lot of lighting was required, lights were used with white scrims for bounce as well the black side for negative fill. “We actually cut light, even the shadow light, so that there was a little more contrast, rather that using filters or digital intermediate. We tried to get the look while shooting. You feel good when you shoot it.”
Featured in StudentFilmmakers Magazine, June 2008 Edition.
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