Before the Rains

Beautifully filmed. Richly sound-tracked. This odd film is based on another film, Red Roofs, an Israeli short project. Interestingly enough, this film feels like the short. It feels like the middle of a very interesting story. To me, what passes prior to this film, and after, are as interesting, if not more, than the film itself. But, we are left without explanation of what precedes and what follows this portion of the story. That may not be all bad however. It leaves much for us to think and talk about. If you like that sort of movie, you'll like this one.

Linus Roache does a great job as the English planter at the center of the story. But, the show is totally taken by the performance of Rahul Bose. Hopefully we'll see lots more of him in future. The leading lady here is Nandita Das who also does a wonderful job. The supporting cast is too numerous to list individually, but I think everyone was great. They make it easy to forget this is acting.

Because this story is so compelling and believable its easy to get swept up into. When the end comes, and no I won't spoil it, the story seemed to me unresolved. Perhaps that was the Director's point?

Watch this movie with someone who will not take sides.