{"id":86940,"date":"2022-09-07T12:01:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=86940"},"modified":"2022-09-11T19:27:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T02:27:02","slug":"rain-people-the-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=86940","title":{"rendered":"Rain People, The (1969)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I just had to get away for awhile.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-86941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Poster.png 625w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nShortly after an unhappy housewife (Shirley Knight) leaves her husband (Robert Modica), she picks up a former football player (James Caan) with a traumatic brain injury who comes to rely on her as his mother-figure; but when Knight begins a tentative romance with a traffic cop (Robert Duvall), their situation becomes even more complicated.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues<\/li>\n<li>Francis Ford Coppola Films<\/li>\n<li>Housewives<\/li>\n<li>Intellectually Disabled<\/li>\n<li>James Caan Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Pregnancy<\/li>\n<li>Road Trip<\/li>\n<li>Robert Duvall Films<\/li>\n<li>Shirley Knight Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that while &#8220;in his major works Francis Ford Coppola has relegated his female characters to peripheral roles,&#8221; &#8220;early in his career he made this sleeper that remains one of the few Hollywood films to deal sensitively with a real woman and her problems.&#8221; He asserts that since it&#8217;s &#8220;about a woman in desperate need of some consciousness-raising,&#8221; it &#8220;might have been a hit if released about a year later, when the women&#8217;s movement really made its first great strides.&#8221; The film focuses on a woman who &#8220;thinks too little of herself to believe she could be a good mother,&#8221; and is &#8220;enjoying her first freedom since she was married,&#8221; &#8220;searching for an extramarital affair&#8221; given that this is &#8220;her only explanation for why she would have left her husband.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-1024x588.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86947\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-1024x588.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-128x74.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-768x441.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone-470x270.png 470w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Phone.png 1269w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary writes that while &#8220;viewers brought up on movie heroines who stick by their men through thick and thin may point angry fingers at Knight,&#8221; &#8220;this is not <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4295\"><em>Kramer vs. Kramer<\/em><\/a>, where the woman is automatically guilty because her side of the story is never told.&#8221; Indeed, &#8220;Coppola is very sympathetic toward Knight, even when her actions cause others harm.&#8221; He is focused on showing &#8220;her immaturity, to show that she is correct in thinking she should have an abortion&#8221; &#8212; which becomes even more &#8220;clear when she picks up a brain-damaged hitchhiker [who is] a surrogate child.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Caan3.png 1291w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary asserts that &#8220;Knight is marvelous&#8221;, and names her Best Actress of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>. He writes that &#8220;so much of what we learn about this woman comes not from the script, but from paying attention to the confidence level of her voice, the wetness of her eyes, or how strong or vulnerable her face is at a given moment;&#8221; she &#8220;properly plays her as a woman undergoing metamorphosis, hopefully for the better.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86954\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup-482x270.png 482w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Makeup.png 1283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary adds that &#8220;Robert Duvall also gives a standout performance as a highway cop who brings Knight back to his trailer one fateful rainy night,&#8221; and points out the &#8220;strong use of locales&#8221; and &#8220;fine [cinematography] by Bill Butler.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Parade.png 1288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Be sure to look for &#8220;associate producer&#8221; George Lucas&#8217;s short film about the production of this movie, entitled &#8220;Filmmaker: A Diary By George Lucas,&#8221; which offers intriguing glimpses into the challenges of making a road film like this on a relatively small budget. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shirley Knight as Natalie<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86958\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Knight-Single-Lady.png 1285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Caan as &#8220;Killer&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Caan.png 1291w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Robert Duvall as Gordon<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Duvall.png 1287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Bill Butler&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-1024x581.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"363\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-86946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-1024x581.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-768x436.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1-476x270.png 476w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Rain-People-Cinematography-1.png 1285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an unusual early outing by a master director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0064873\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-rain-people\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2929rain.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=569&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I just had to get away for awhile.&#8221; Synopsis: Shortly after an unhappy housewife (Shirley Knight) leaves her husband (Robert Modica), she picks up a former football player (James Caan) with a traumatic brain injury who comes to rely on her as his mother-figure; but when Knight begins a tentative romance with a traffic cop (Robert Duvall), their situation becomes even more complicated. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues Francis Ford Coppola Films Housewives Intellectually Disabled James&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=86940\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86940"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87252,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86940\/revisions\/87252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}