Before the Rains

Aroview: Steamy tropical melodrama made under the "Merchant Ivory" banner, set in southern India against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement.

A wealthy European spice baron's affair with his married Indian housemaid is uncovered, resulting in retribution and divided loyalties. Being steamy, tropical, melodramatic and spicy, this film is stock-in-trade Merchant Ivory fodder. The story is undeniably dramatic, derived as it is from Israeli film "Yellow Asphalt", but is otherwise a muted affair. Nonetheless, the film is a consistent example of the lushly evocative style Merchant Ivory is famed for.