‘Rains’ lovingly binds 2 cultures

Some themes are, alas, timeless. Take power, in all its forms: political, personal, sexual.

So, though “Before the Rains” is set in a small village in Kerala, India, in 1937, the film’s concerns resonate far beyond that very specific time and place.

The locus of all this power is, of course, an Englishman. Henry Moores (Linus Roache) has ambitious plans to become a spice baron. “Today, tea. Tomorrow, cinnamon, pepper,” he declares, looking greedily out at the land. “Cardamon,” adds his manservant T.K. with a smile.

T.K. (Rahul Bose) is a native of the village, but he’s just as full of aspiration. His English is impeccable, and the plan to tame the jungle excites him as much as it does the colonialist. His relationship with Moores seems to be more one of equals than of master and servant.

That’s true only while it’s convenient for the master, though.

While wife Laura (Jennifer Ehle) and young son Peter (Leopold Benedict) are back in England, Moores embarks on an affair with another servant. Sajani (Nandita Das) travels each day from her home in the village to the Moores’ ranch to run the household. She’s strikingly beautiful — and in a very traditional arranged marriage.

When her husband finds out about the affair — though not with whom she’s having it — he goes into a rage. Fearing for her life, Sajani rushes to Moores for help. Naive and madly in love, she thinks they’ll run off together.

Moores, of course, has no intention of doing so — and he leaves the mess he has created for T.K. to clean up. The Englishman is just as naive in his own way, for he has no idea just how powerful tribal customs can be.

This may all sound like the stuff of melodrama, but Indian director Santosh Sivan (“The Terrorist”) has made something much more real and human in this, his English-language debut. We meet Moores and Sajani first not as master and servant, but as lovers. Thus both immediately have our sympathy, and neither comes off as merely an archetype when we see them in less intimate roles.

Although the romance powers the plot, T.K. is the film’s real figure of interest. He’s torn between loyalty to two very different worlds, and his dilemma turns out to be the most important of the film, both for him and for India.

Serving as his own cinematographer, Mr. Sivan also has made something stunning. From the sweeping looks at the landscape to the energetic shots of marching Indian nationalists to the achingly personal moments between lovers, every shot in this film is luminously composed. This is a beautiful film about some very ugly emotions.

***

TITLE: “Before the Rains”

RATING: PG-13 (Violent content and a scene of sexuality)

CREDITS: Directed by Santosh Sivan. Written by Cathy Rabin (in English with some Malayalam in English subtitles) based on the short film “Red Roofs” in “The Desert Trilogy: Yellow Asphalt” by Danny Verete.

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