The search for gold has led to the exploitation of people throughout the centuries. The nature of "gold" changes—maybe food, or oil, or even water becomes the resource that brings wealth to some at the expense of the less powerful. In Even the Rain, we see three parallel stories involving the search for that elusive gold.

Sebastian and Costa are filmmakers who have come to Bolivia to make a film about Christopher Columbus and his exploitation of the Indians, enslaving them in his search for gold. They hire many locals as extras for $2 a day. One of the locals, Daniel, is spirited and a bit rebellious. But Sebastian sees in him just the personality that is needed for the role of Hatuey in the film. While the film is being made, the Cochabamba Water Wars are occurring. These protests over the selling of water rights to a multinational consortium were the result of peasants and farmers having to pay vastly inflated prices for water they used to use for free. Daniel is also a leader in the protests.

The film moves back and forth between the filming, the story that is being filmed, and the protests, creating a layered narrative in which we see history being acted out in each setting. We reflect on Columbus treating the Indians whose island he has invaded as of no worth other than the gold he can force them to bring him. We see the government officials who care nothing about the complaints of the poor who need the water to live. We see the filmmakers whose main concern is getting the film finished as they are running out of money. Each story reflects oppression. Each story also shows us the power that can be marshaled by the people when they rise up. It is of interest that the film is "in memory of Howard Zinn," a liberal American historian.

I saw this film just shortly after the people of Egypt brought down the government. Such revolutions were taking place in other Mideast and North African nations. On the weekend I watched this, thousands of people were rallying in Wisconsin against the governor's plan to take away bargaining rights from public employees. It occurred to me watching this film that this same battle continues to be fought in many different settings.

But the film is not a bleak or hopeless portrayal of eternal class warfare. The film's power is in the glimpses we see of people who are changed by the plight of the oppressed. In the Columbus story we see the Dominican priest Bartolomè de las Casas. The actor playing him relishes the sermon he gives in the film, telling those in power that they are in mortal sin for the way they treat the Indians. In the case of the filmmakers, the greatest change takes place in Costa, who comes to understand the needs of the people he has been employing and is willing to go to great lengths when his help is needed. As he came to know them and their dreams, he had to make his own stand.

Many biblical scholars and theologians point out that God has a preference for the poor. The Hebrew prophets often called on Israel to care for the powerless. Jesus told us we are to see him in "the least of these." Often the church has not stood with the oppressed. Sometimes the church has aided those who will do whatever it takes to get the current form of gold—and the church has sought its own share of gold. Sometimes it is difficult to know where to stand when we see scenes on the news from Cairo or Yemen or Madison, Wisconsin. Can we stand off to the side as spectators or must we stand with the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless and the powerless?