Student Filmmakers - June 2008 - (Page 41) The Visual Language of Before the Rains From Script, Metaphor and Motif – to Cinematography and Camera Techniques by Mary Ann Skweres 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.” 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 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 June 2008 studentfilmmakers 1
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