Review of The Rain People (1969) by Lee M — 16 Nov 2015
Did you ever just want to take off? Leave your mess and go where the road goes?
It's never the answer. You have to turn around some time. If you can even do it anymore. Nowadays, if you use a credit card, if you have a phone or a GPS, you can be found. But somewhere, for a minute, between the exits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, you feel free.
So what's wrong with Natalie? Is she stifled by the roles thrust upon her? Is she at an existential crossroads? Or is she just selfish?
Films like The Rain People never answer those questions, they want to leave them open. I'm coming around to the notion that the best movies aren't the ones that take a stand and dare you to reject it. The best films are Rorschach tests for their viewers, where any comments about them tell you more about the speaker than the movie.
The Rain People was made in 1969, when its director Francis Ford Coppola was not yet an overindulged genius and was merely a budding genius. It's very much of its time - a road movie, generally plotless, the main character questioning the values that have been thrust upon her, against the backdrop of grotesque Americana.
One might wish Coppola had kept making small movies. As impressive as the Godfather movies are, I have trouble with films that ennoble scumbags (I have the same problem with Gone with the Wind). I prefer movies like this.
Watch it if you get the chance. It will stay with you.
This review of The Rain People (1969) was written by Lee M on 16 Nov 2015.
The Rain People has generally received positive reviews.
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