While making a film about the incursion of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean, a Mexican director and a Spanish producer find the Bolivian indigenous people protesting contemporary exploitation and claiming the rights to water and ultimately dignity and survival.
Instructions:
Watch Even the Rain (Icíar Bollaín, 2011) and choose ONE prompt. Post your answer in the comment section below. 200-word minimum. Due on 9/23 before the class.
If you do not have access to Netflix and cannot rent it on iTunes, please see OPTION FOUR down below.
OPTION ONE
In his landmark essay Discourse on Colonialism Martinican poet, playwright, and politician, Aimé Césaire argues:
“What, fundamentally, is colonization? To agree on what is not: neither evangelization, nor a philanthropic enterprise, nor a desire to push back the frontiers of ignorance, disease, and tyranny nor a project undertaken for the glory of God, nor an attempt to extend the rule of law […] colonial activity, colonial enterprise, colonial conquest […] is based on contempt for the native and justified by that contempt. ” (Pages 32, 41)
Discussing at least two scenes, answer this question:
.How does the film Even the Rain showcases the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes when examining colonialism?
OPTION TWO
Discussing at least two scenes, answer this question:
.How does the film crew WITHIN the film reproduces the same colonial mentalities and practices they are representing in their Christopher Columbus movie?
OPTION THREE
Discussing at least two scenes, answer this question:
.How does the contemporary issue of access to water connects to the Taino people’s resistance in the Caribbean?
OPTION FOUR (for people without access to Even the Rain)
In his landmark essay Discourse on Colonialism Martinican poet, playwright, and politician, Aimé Césaire argues:
“What, fundamentally, is colonization? To agree on what is not: neither evangelization, nor a philanthropic enterprise, nor a desire to push back the frontiers of ignorance, disease, and tyranny nor a project undertaken for the glory of God, nor an attempt to extend the rule of law […] colonial activity, colonial enterprise, colonial conquest […] is based on contempt for the native and justified by that contempt. ” (Pages 32, 41)
Discussing at least two scenes, answer this question:
.How does the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) showcases the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes when examining colonialism?
Dubbed English Version:
Original German Version:
OPTION FIVE
Respectfully interact with ONE of your classmates’ responses. Do you agree with their arguments and interpretations? Do you disagree? What other observations about Even the Rain or Aguirre, The Wrath of God do you want to bring into the discussion?
*A note on acknowledging secondary sources *
Especially with films, there is a lot of criticism available on the internet that could help you develop your reflections. I want to read especially your own interpretations, but, if you do research you are welcome to bring SOME ideas from a secondary source (an article; review; etc.) If you do, please make sure to acknowledge the authors and thinkers and include in-text citations (quotes).
Example of in-text citations:
As critic X argues in his/her article X: “The indigenous people…”
Reviewer X proposes that: “Indigenous people in the Americas…”
YouTube commenter X suggests that: “Indigenous resistance was…”
Option 4
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) showcases the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes when examining colonialism as the “civilization” of the Indigenous people, the conquest of war, and glory/greed. In the first few minutes of the movie, we see many Indians chain up like slaves doing hard labor like carrying and in the process dying to a cause that is not theirs but their conquerors. This shows one of the most brutal aspects of colonialism slavery and the tyrannic side of the Conquistador. Another scene I found showcases tyranny is the scene when Aguirre wants to continue when people want to quit so he leads a mutiny promising them riches and incapacitated Ursúa and later kills him. This scene speaks volumes as it shows that this group of explorers is getting power-hungry and starting to become dehumanized to find the fabled country of el dorado. Another scene I found showcases both hypocrisy and tyranny was the scene with the indigenous couple. there when they were introduced to Christianity they were confused and were killed for it but before they died Brother Carvajal called them savages and ask them if they heard about “Jesus Christ and their true mission to save their souls” This shows how brutal they were and how they attempt to force their religion onto them and killed them for blasphemy. In the final scene, it shows that after losing everyone either due to killing each other, nature, or by attacking and raiding the village Aguirre becomes insane and starts talking to monkeys. I found this ironic as one of the reasons for colonializing was to civilize the “barbaric” people there and introduce them to their religion but in the end, he becomes the “barbaric” animal in the end.
OPTION 5: I noticed the irony as well, I agree with your take on the whole aspect of hypocrisy and inevitably doing the So called thing they dedicated their lives not to be “barbaric.” The colonizers put up a facade and hid their ways behind their religion. They already know how it feels like to be devoted to religion to the point of the dying for it. Having this knowledge, they should’ve already seen the atrocity that would come out of it. This was all just means to an end in their eyes, seeing God as their excuse. Not following a simple task would get you shot; dictatorship is shown through out the entirety of the film. An example of how these indigenous people were seen as the way we once saw the Neanderthals. They thought they would eventually die out on their own, so instead of waiting they took matters in to their own hands.
OPTION 2
One fragment of the colonial mentality is the belief in superiority. Colonizers have the mentality where they are superior to indigenous people. Colonizers believe that anything that they do in indigenous land will only benefit the people who currently reside on it. They believe that whatever they decide to do or change will be superior to their life before. This is shown in the movie “Even the Rain ” in the first car scene at minute 6:08-7:28. The film crew is discussing their film while they’re driving . Costas mentions how Bolivia is full of “starving natives” who they can negotiate with to get whatever they want. Basically, they see natives as people who they can take advantage of. The tone and language used in this scene by Costa displays his belief that he is superior to the indigenous people. He does not see much value in them and thinks he is able to obtain their resources in an unfair way.
Another fragment of the colonial mentality is dehumanization. The perception of the natives is completely warped. When colonizers enter native land, they will no longer see the natives as human beings with feelings and thoughts. They dehumanize those people. This is shown in the movie at minute 29:31-30:05. Maria and Costa are witnessing a protest that the Bolivians are participating in for their water. Maria asks to film a documentary on this but doesn’t do it for the right reasons. At first, it seems as if she wants to film this to get the protest exposure but that is not the case. She completely disregards how important the protest is for the Bolivians. She is interested in the profits that the documentary can gain through this protest. She is seeing these people as “subjects” but not truly as human beings that are in need of help.
Option Four:
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, shows hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes by showing the colonist’s perspective of Indians and the desire for riches, power, and fame. A scene shows one of the colonists asking a peaceful Indian where he got gold and the colonist continues to call him a savage. Also, the colonist introduces the bible and says this is to “enlighten the darkness of their world”. I believe the Indian also died because he stepped on the bible. This scene tells us that the colonists see the Indians as having no religion, wild beings, and that their world is horrible. There is also a scene where the emperor has a huge feast while the other crew members are starving. The emperor was of no help and was pretty much just a dictator. Shortly after, he ends up dead by the front of his hut. The emperor was obsessed with gold and wanted everything to be covered in gold. The last few scenes from this film shows Aguirre’s desire to be so powerful that he says “the earth I pass will see me and tremble.” Additionally, even though Aguirre has no crew left and seems to have failed, he still wishes to control all of New Spain and rule the whole continent.
Option 4:
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) showcases the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes when examining colonialism through multiple examples that Herzog provided in his scenes. At around 29:48 in the scene, the leader of the group, Ursua, suggested that they should head back to the main group because of the heavy current of the river, however, Aguirre shot at him and used Hernando Cortes as an example, telling the group that Cortes disobeyed his orders which lead to his success. This shows that Aguirre acts like a dictator and is willing to harm anyone to reach his goal of success. This includes enslaving Native Americans and using them as entertainment (a man was playing a traditional instrument at 32:25) and slaves (37:50). At 59:45 in the scene, two Native Americans approached Aguirre’s group and brought food with them. After noticing the gold hanging on one of the Native American’s necks, Aguirre’s group became excited and polite, and the priest even offered his Bible to them, giving them God’s blessings. If the two Natives does not have food or wealth on them, they would’ve probably been killed and it wouldn’t matter to any member of the group. This proves Cesaire’s point of hypocrisy in colonialism because Aguirre only wants to “help” the Natives to have a “better” future when they can take away the Native’s resources and land.
To add on, I would like to say Aguirre pretending to help the Natives is just another example of colonization and mistreatment. Colonizers’ end goal is to take and destroy anyone who gets’s in the way. Their approach to obtain power is to manipulate or gaslight any situation. An example of this is when colonizers set sail in a new land. They are aware that the land isn’t theirs’s but to gain power and acknowledgment there are willing to take extreme measures. For example, bring a religious system they never heard of before, technology, steel, and metal. But also, take someone else’s resources to add value to their power, this is a game for the colonizers. Time and time again, the same repetitive stragery presents itself in a different story.
Option Two
The film crew within the film reproduces the same colonial mentality and practices that are represented in their Christopher Columbus movie by the harsh and inhumane way that they are treating the people in the film. In the middle of the movie, Sebastian wants the actors in the film to drown their babies since they cannot bear the thought that the dogs will eat them. The people who are supposed to be portraying this are clearly uncomfortable with the idea and when Daniel tells Sebastian this he flips out as if it’s not a big deal. He’s portraying the same colonial mentality because in colonialism the colonizer only cares about themselves and not how their actions may hurt others. Daniel throughout this movie only cares about the making and image of the film even with Daniel at the end of this scene saying, “Sebastian, some things are more important than your film.” (Even the Rain 47:29) Another scene in the middle of the movie shows how Daniel was arrested for protesting since there was no water. Instead of Sebastian caring about Daniel getting hurt and arrested he calls him an “idiot”. Sebastian and Costa later go into the prison and make a deal with the guard since they “need that man for the film.” (Even the Rain 1:01:38) They bribe him with money and come to a deal that after the film they would bring him back without his knowledge. This deal is extremely inhumane and horrible and shows how the film crew doesn’t see Daniel as human but just as a prop in their film.
Option 4
In the movie Wrath Of God, it specifically displays the hypocrisy of tyranny by using the colonist desire for money power and religion, and their perspective of the Indian people. Césaire’s description of colonization is that is a poison that will eventually ruin those who use it and by the end of the movie you see that the same colonist group that kills the Indians almost essentially destroys themselves. The only way to justify colonization is to believe that what you are doing is civilizing uncivilized people because you don’t acknowledge their religion, with is just applying it to that same colonist group does this mean that they have lost their religion and have become savages. Around 1:15:37 a man declares himself as the wrath of God giving them the means to do anything that forwards their personal goal to conquer and acquire riches.
Fundamentally colonization Is the desire for fame and riches and exploiting every possible aspect of life and people to achieve such a goal on a massive scale while using the justification of religion to create beliefs that are told to give power to a system that is built on exploitation.
The film crew mirrors the same colonial mentalities and practices they are representing in their Christopher Columbus movie. Just like the colonizers, the filmmakers are willing to exploit people to get what they want. We see this behavior as early as in minute 7:31. In this scene, local natives are doing as they are told and pulling up a cross. Despite knowing how dangerous it is to install a cross without professionals, Costa insists they do it. When Sebastian says they should have gotten professionals and used a crane because somebody can get hurt, Costa justifies it by saying they saved lots of money. Here, we see that Costa does not care about the local natives, only the money. Just like the colonizers, he is controlled by greed. He takes advantage of the fact that the locals do not know any better and are in a situation where they would do anything for money, even if it is risky.
This idea is further supported by the scene in minute 35:02. In this scene, Costa is on a call with his boss where he expresses his joy because they have 200 extras and are only paying them $2 a day. Costa is aware that they are severely underpaying the local natives but shows no sign of remorse. This mirrors the scene they filmed earlier where natives were forced to find gold for the colonizers or be punished. In this case, Costa is the colonizer. He is taking advantage of the locals’ financial situation and profiting from it. While the extras only get paid $2 a day for their work, Costa and his people will be making millions. The film crew’s actions are inhumane as they constantly choose a film and money over morals and human lives.
Option 2
The film crew within the film reproduces the same colonial mentalities and practices they are representing in their movie because they are only using the people of Bolivia for their advantages in their movie and some for there gold. They don’t care if they hurt or offend anyone along there way to getting what they want. Which is similar to colonial mentalities because a person with a colonial mentality doesn’t care about the colony they are invading because they just care about what they gain from it. We can see this when they are eating together and one person starts disrespecting the Bolivian worker by saying they are essentially worthless and acts all high and mighty comparing them to himself. This shows a selfish intent and a feeling of being superior to indigenous people because he then later says he’s only in Bolivia for gold and nothing else.
Another example of the colonial mentality is how they believe there culture is inferior to there’s and this can be shown with how they mock all the Bolivian people throughout the movie and have this sense of being superior to them. We can see this when Maria goes to witness the protest for water and decides to go and film it not for historical reasons but because it will make her money. Maria disregards how important the protest is and how it is impactful to there society and only cares about the monetized value that she could get from filming it. Thus showing how arrogant and clueless she is to the Bolivian people and society. She doesn’t see them anymore as equals because she sees them as beneficial gains for the movie which is wrong because at the end of the day they are all equal and these film cast shouldn’t be roadblocks for the Bolivian people trying to advance there society.
Option 4
Cesaire’s critique that colonization “is based on contempt for the native” is portrayed in several scenes from the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog 1972). One scene is at the beginning of the film, where the Spanish are traveling alongside enslaved natives who are linked together by chains. The conquistadors are yelling orders at the natives when they are forced to wade through mud while carrying a carriage for mistress Ines. The disconnect is further shown when the conquistadors are discussing plans and the natives are huddled together away from the crowd. The Spanish perceive the natives as inferior and their actions towards them reveal a hateful attitude, distancing the two groups.
Another scene is when two natives approach the protagonists’ raft and are seized onboard. The translator explains that the natives believe the conquistadors are sent here by their God as divine visitors, displaying a non-hostile attitude. However, once the monk presents them with a bible, they are confused and mishandle it, automatically resulting in their deaths. The monk’s primary intention to spread Christianity to the local people is overshadowed by the conquistadors’ aggressive reception, supporting Cesaire’s claim about the illusion of evangelization as colonization’s goal. Their contemptuous nature is ultimately exposed when Ines abandons her party and vanishes into the trees, symbolizing how the supposed barbarism of the indigenous is more hospitable than the brutal nature of the colonizers.
The film crew in the movie Even the Rain portray the same colonial mentality and practice that is also represented in the project about Christopher Columbus being filmed. The locals chosen to be extras in the film were being exploited, in minute 35 this scene costa receives a phone call from his boss reporting that the 200 locals playing as extras are being paid as low as $2 per day, to which he chuckles and blows it off as a good thing. This supports the idea of using colonial mentalities because costa is aware that these people deserve better pay, but for the sake of the budget for the film they will underpay the hard-working locals. In history many people have been exploited for the benefit of the party in “power”.
In minute 52 of the film Sebastian is talking to a government official, while the locals are rioting outside because of the water shortage and says “I don’t want to be rude but if someone earns two dollars a day, he can’t pay a 300% increase in the price of water. At least that is what I’m told”. To which the official responds with “how curious that’s what I’m told you pay the extras”, Sebastian then mentions the light budget for the film and the official says, “don’t we all”. The scene clearly shows how exploitation is defended by flimsy reasons to make it seem more humane. The people in poverty are still experiencing what their ancestors went through themselves.
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) does a great job at showcasing the hypocrisy and tyranny of colonialism that Césaire describes in his essay throughout a variety of scenes. One scene that highlights this is in the opening scene when we see the natives are chained up like captives and forced to do manual labor for these colonizers. What makes it even worse that the narrator states a scene later that any native who died while chained up on their journey would not even get to have a proper burial. I think the hypocrisy of colonialism is shown when these colonizers think they’re “saving” these “evil” and “savage” natives and Indians when they’re now the reason the natives are dying as captives. While hypocrisy is shown in this opening scene the cruelty can’t be understated either. The fact that the natives are chained up, treated badly and at the risk of dying is undeniably cruel and showcases purposely what Césaire was saying how colonialism is built on a contempt for natives since you would need contempt to treat people like this.
The second scene happens around the 38:00 minute mark where Bruno Rimac a native speaks about how the Spaniards took away his real name and now call him Baltazar. He goes on further to say he was a prince in this land and his people weren’t allowed to look in his eyes but now just like them he’s chained and forced to look at the ground and even though he can’t fight the Spaniards they are fighting each other. This scene is another example of what Césaire is talking about it’s cruel that this prince along with all of his people are chained up and in Bruno’s case he’s not even called by his real name. They have been enslaved this colonialism isn’t helping them or saving them in anyway it’s just a way to hurt and belittle them and take away their land. It’s also hypocritical once again because the Spaniards think they’re helping the “savages” but as Bruno says they’re the ones fighting amongst one another out of greed and a want of power. These colonizers probably don’t realize it yet but they’ve already become barbaric and savage the very thing they seek to change or save people from.
option 4
The movie Aguirre, the Wrath of God depicts hypocrisy and tyranny through the colonists’ desire for wealth and cruelty to the Indians. The colonists and Indians slaves traveled together through the jungle. Indian slaves were bound in chains. The colonists abused them and treated them with rude behavior. Many Indian slaves died on this journey. The colonists treated the slaves in an inhumane way and don’t care if they lived or died. And colonists fought for power, and were killed if someone had a different opinion. Ursua was killed because he disagreed with Aguirre. And when the colonists found the Indian’s tribes, they robbed their food. When they saw the Indians wearing gold necklaces, they took the gold away. When the Indians didn’t know what the Bible was, they thought it was blasphemous, and they killed him. The colonists exercised tyranny to the Indians. The colonists used religion to rationalize their colonial and barbarism. They thought god would be on the side of the stronger, and they believed that colonization was to civilize the savage, but that could not hide their brutality and savagery. I think the colonists hypocritically used religion to satisfy their own desires. They used the god’s instructions to seize territory and tyrannize the natives, which I think is hypocritical.
Option 2
The footage from 6 – 7:30 shows that the colonists have a sense of superiority when facing the natives. Costas said that Bolivia is full of hungry people. They can negotiate with the people here to get whatever they want. We You can tell from Costas’s tone that he thinks he doesn’t respect the indigenous people very much, and thinks he can get their stuff with a little bit.
The colonists treat the indigenous people very inhumanely. The whole movie only makes people feel that the colonists don’t treat them as human beings when they face the indigenous people. For example, when Maira sees the protest for water , she just wants film it , because this thing can make her money, she doesn’t care about the protest itself, because she thinks Bolivia is just a tool to make the movie profitable, she doesn’t care about Bolivia
Option 2:
The film crew reproduces colonial mentalities and practices they are representing in their Columbus film with their mistreatment/exploitation of the cast. The crew or Costa is excited with how much extras they have and how they don’t need to pay them much. Daniel overhears Costa saying how the extras are excited just to receive $2 a day for their work. You see more ways of them trying to save cost with one: getting locals to star in their film and two: using cheap ways to prepare the set. Instead of hiring professionals or equipment to set up the cross, Costa uses people with rope to pull it up. Even though it fell and someone could have gotten hurt, he just tells them to do it again. Three: he believes money could get them anything by bribing Daniel to stay away from his activist work until the movie is over for his benefit. With that idea we also see how when things began to get rough, the crew wanted to film their ‘money shot’ cross scene and get out of there because that was more important. They even bribe the police to release Daniel so they can get what they want. Four: is Maria’s reason to film the locals as it would make money and not because it would shed light on the situation for people around the world and bring awareness to the country. We can see more of these practices with the frustration the film crew has when the mothers don’t want to film the water scene. Instead of sympathizing with them they make it seem like it isn’t a big deal and they should do it. Obviously money is the prime reason that makes people act irrationally. Even in the scenes of the Columbus film we see the natives bring gold to the colonizers and getting harmed if they bring some alternative or not the correct amount.
Option Two
In Even the Rain, the film crew reproduces the same colonial mentalities and practices they are representing in their movie like exploitation. At 34:58, Costas’s phone call with the “money men” exposes how they only pay the extras in the movie $2 a day, which seems more than enough to satisfy them. Having heard this, Daniel makes a remark about it to Costas to show his disappointment. Costas is well aware that he’s taking advantage of the local Indians because they’re desperate for any opportunity to earn money. He even had them lift the cross in position to film, disregarding the fact that they could’ve easily gotten hurt. This is ironic because the movie they’re casting for shows how the natives are exploited for their labor and gold.
Another colonial mentality portrayed by the film crew is inhumanity. Like how natives in the Christopher Columbus movie are belittled by the conquerors trying to impose Christianity upon them, the film crew belittles the actual casting natives by trying to force them to film inhumane scenes. At 44:44, Sebastian explains to the natives about the next scene they must film which includes pretending to drown the babies in the water while using props as substitutes. Despite the explanation, the natives refuse to film this horrifying scene because they cannot bear the thought of drowning their babies, even if it’s not for real. Costas and Sebastian think they’re overreacting because it’s not a big deal which showcases how little humanity remains within them. They want the natives to obey because they put the film above morals and humanity.
Option one:
In the film “Even the Rain,” a film about Christopher Columbus’ journey and conquest of the New World is being created, while some of the actors in the film are also protesting against a water company stealing water from them. In one of the beginning scenes, a man representing Christopher Columbus informs the natives that the land will be ruled by the King and Queen of Spain and that if they refuse to accept their new rulers, then they will be enslaved and treated like garbage. This represents the hypocrisy that Césaire describes because as soon as the Spaniards invade the natives’ land, they treat the natives as if they were inferiors by barking commands at them and threatening them. In another one of the scenes, the natives are seen in the river digging for gold to fill up a tiny bell and if they don’t meet expectations, then their arm will get chopped off. This is an act of tyranny because the natives are forced to work for the Spaniards and receive a cruel punishment if they aren’t able to complete their task. Overall, the film about Christopher Columbus depicts the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes because the natives are enslaved, forced to work for the Spaniards, and even forced to switch their religion to Christianity or else they receive some form of bodily harm.
Option 2
We can see in the movie ” Even the Rain” that the film producers have the same mentality as colonists in the Columbus days as they feel as if they are far above the people in Bolivia and take advantage of them while making their film. They are using the people there for their own benefits for the movie which is essentially labor like what the colonist used to do. We see this at the beginning of the movie when they get out of the car and had people help bring the cross up. He was showing off how he saved money by having the people there instead of professionals and machinery. It was all about money, he was trying to use them in order to have the most amount of money that he could. Just like the colonists, they would use the natives for their own wants and needs.
In the film, “even the rain”, within the first few minutes into the movie, while driving, the film crew start talking about the natives that are living there. They start talking about them as if they were objects. Costa says “Costa knows this place is full of starving Natives, and that means thousands of extras.” Costa only sees them as a prop for their upcoming movie. Since this movie has a small budget he also mentions how you can negotiate everything with them, meaning they could take advantage of them. He also doesn’t even take into consideration the kind of natives they are . He states ” they’re all the same,”this also reveals how ignorant colonizers are.
After Daniel has been arrested for participating and encouraging the current protest over water, Costa and Sebastian find him to try and bail him out in order to finish their movie. When giving the officer $2000, the officer agrees to let Daniel out under one condition, that is to bring him right back after filming. This scene also shows how colonizers viewed natives and took advantage of them as Costa and Sebastian agreed to this deal. They don’t care what happens to Daniel or the reason behind this protest, they just want him so that they can finish this movie. Throughout the movie its repeatedly shown how colonizers were selfish, ignorant, and cruel to those they feel superior too.
Option 2:
In the film Even the Rain, you can see multiple times where the film crew ironically recreates the same situations they are filming. For example, when Sebastian tries to convince the native women to drown fake babies he can seem to empathize with their point of view. He puts their emotions second and his art first, he doesn’t see their feelings as valid just annoying. Colonizers had the same mentality when committing these atrocious acts, they looked at natives as subhumans who don’t have valid emotions. This is seen again when Costa tried to bribe the lead actor to not protest any more. He doesn’t see how protesting for the ability to drink water is more important than filming. It shows that they don’t care about their actors, just about finishing the film no matter what happens to them.
The contemporary issue of access to water connects to the Taino people’s resistance in the Caribbean because in the movie it demonstrates how when they were filming Daniel he was a representation of resistance. The fact that he was willing to sacrifice his own life to obtain his people’s freedom from Christopher Columbus and his men in the film correlates to how Daniel was also a leader when it came to the water issue. Daniel led hundreds and thousands of people to protest against the ongoing issue with the lack of water. In the film Daniel was a symbolic meaning of resistance and in Daniel’s real life he continued to be a symbolism of resistance. Which explains why Daniel was a perfect choice for his part because in real life this is who Daniel was as a human being in the start. Even when Daniel was given the opportunity to receive money to stop protesting his emotions and feelings and not waver and he continued to protest despite the opportunity in front of him. He would advocate for what is right and in this case obtaining water to live is the reason for his leadership during the resistance in the Caribbean.
Option 4:
Understanding what Cesaire is saying about the hypocrisy and tyranny of colonialism, the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, shows us specifically the points that Cesaire is trying to depict about colonialism. One notable scene that caught my eyes when watching the film focuses on the group of colonizers chaining up the Indian slaves as they do intense and brutal labor to the point where eventually they either succumb to exhaustion or to the environment. This scene showcases the tyranny of colonialism that Cesaire is describing and refers back to his original point that they see this sort of action is justified by the contempt of the colonized. The colonizers in the film perfectly represent what Cesaire is saying due to the fact that they saw these acts were a justified means of punishment rather than a act of exploiting and tyranny. Another notable scene that I found to be rather hypocritical was the scene were the two natives were introduced to Christianity and were killed for not understanding it. The two natives who were clearly not yet adapted to the introduction of Christianity were seen as savages and barbarics and were killed for it. The colonizers saw this as a act of judgement, justifying their barbaric acts with religion and hence “saved” them which was terribly ironic. This scene also was perfectly depicted by the statement about hypocrisy made by Cesaire as again, this scene was saw that this sort of action is justified by the contempt of the colonized.
Option 3
The Taino people resistance to colonization was portrayed in the movie when in the film that Sebastian was filming indigenous characters were questioning Christopher Colombus’s tactics and in the scene at 15:35 Daniels character asked what would happen if they did not listen, Columbus replies, “If not we will enslave you and dispose of you as we wish. We will seize your possessions, and we will do you as much harm as we can.” The parallels between Columbus and the Bolivian government during the Water War are connected in the movie, during the protests the Bolivian army starts attacking and harming the Bolivian citizens for resisting. The same tactics of colonization stayed the same, a powerful person taking possession of something important to the people and threatening them if they try to take their possession back. The Taino peoples’ resistance to colonization in the Caribbean connects to the Bolivian issue of access to water because both of their rights were being infringed upon and at the end of the day they were both fighting against greed.
OPTION 4
The first example of the film, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) showcases the hypocrisy and tyranny that Césaire describes when examining colonialism, is when two native Americans, man and a woman, come to on the boat to the raft of Spaniards at a about 59th minute. As the native man had a golden amulet, the priest greedily and aggressively ripped it off his neck and started asking where did he get it from, completely forgetting about his holy mission. So colonization was “ nor a project undertaken for the glory of God” but it was tyranny, power and greed that promoted colonization.
Another example, is from the last minutes of the movie, when Aguirre was the only person who was still alive on the raft, even his daughter was dead, but he seemed careless. All he talked about is conquering new land and gaining glory. Aguirre like all other colonizers cared only about benefiting himself, absolutely not carrying about others. All he wanted was glory, power, and money.
The film crew in the movie “Even the Rain” embody colonial mentality and practices through exploitation and dehumanization of the native people. At minute 35:00, Costa’s phone call reveals that the locals who have been working as extras in their film were only being paid $2 a day. While Daniel has an issue with this, Costa doesnt see it as a big deal, because he is more concerned about the film’s budget. Costa’s selfishness and willingness to underpay and overwork natives is a direct parallel to the movie being filmed, which shows the process of natives being exploited for their gold. The film crew also dehumanized the native people by asking them to film a gruesome and misleading scene, which would insinuate that they drown their babies. In addition, Costa treated the native people as if they were overreacting, even though he was asking them to tell such a bizarre lie about their culture, and allow this lie to be broadcast as the truth. This interaction has parallels to the way native people were treated when christianity was forced upon them. They were treated like their own religion and culture didn’t matter, and were forced to embody someone else’s.
option 2
Within the beginning of the movie “Even the Rain” the introduction displayed a film crew scene that took place before the film even began to be in production. The tone of the movie is already established once you take a closer look at how the “white” Latino film producers, specifically Sebastian, and his other helpers were reaching out to casting new actors with native ancestry- which these people are known for being lower class people economically in Bolivia. The tone of the movie is particularly set when the dependence, and anger from the Latino’s with Native ancestry arises as the producers have chosen a few random selection of people from the hundreds that have travelled on foot to seek into the opportunity to get more of an income from being an actor. This power dynamic that is set between the producers, and Native people seeking the opportunity to be an actor seems to be a reflection of the colonial mentality. This colonial mentality is especially portrayed later on when the actors were chosen. The film crew began driving to the destination, and the lady filming the documentary to the movie began the conversation of why they decided to do the movie there in that location. Costa, Sebastian’s friend mentioned poor, and starving Natives that could be “used as extras” for the movie. The power dynamic is especially set in my opinion when Costa mentions how they could take advantage of the Native’s for extra money. Sebastian also mentions in that conversation that those Natives from the Andes are not historically accurate to be represented as the Native’s that Christopher Columbus had encountered, Costa began to generalize and say it “does not matter” and that “Native’s are natives”. These scenes are what I believe really began to set the tone of the movie’s attitude towards the Natives as well as portrayed a reflection of a colonist mindset.
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God shows the tyranny that Césaire describes when looking at colonialism . This is shown when the american and the natives come to the boat along with the other spaniards. The priest yanked off the natives necklace and was unaware of the religious meaning behind this.The priests definition of colonization was for greed and for selfish reasons rather than a better life. Aguirre had no care in the world other than attaining land, money, and power and did not care for anyone else. Also the slaves in this film were not treated with the respect that they deserved , some died from exhaustion and other illness. The owners were only in for the money as well.
Option 2:
The movie shows parallels between the European imperialism and exploitation of the working people in Bolivia. Costa is filming a movie of Christopher Columbus however there’s a lot of irony to the way he treats the locals and takes advantage of them very similar to the colonizers. In one scene Costa is seen boasting about paying the extras only $2 dollars a day. This scene brings to light how they were taking advantage of Bolivia’s economic crisis and were using that as a way to produce their movie cheaper. The filming crew represent the colonizers in this situation because they feel they are superior and do not appreciate how hard working the natives are. The crew show little understanding to what the Bolivian people are protesting for and simply only care about continuing the movie they are filming. In another scene we can see Costa upset about Daniel continuing in the protests for water and shows the lack of empathy he has towards the natives a trait common in colonizers. Furthermore displaying colonial mentalities they simply don’t care about the wellbeing of the people and only see them as a way to get money. Even when its first shown the people are protesting for water they see that as a new opportunity to film a documentary not acknowledging the crisis.