Film Forum

THE RAIN PEOPLE

Francis Ford Coppola · 1969 · U.S. · 101 min

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Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, based on his story, Echoes “Coppola’s fourth feature, a fascinating early road movie made entirely on location with a minimal crew and a constantly evolving script. Shirley Knight is outstanding (in a superb cast) as the pregnant woman who runs away in quest of the identity she feels she has lost as a Long Island housewife, and finds herself increasingly tangled in the snares of responsibility through her encounters with a football player left mindless by an accident (Caan) and a darkly amorous traffic cop (Duvall). Symbolism rumbles beneath the characterisations (Caan as the baby she is running from and with, Duvall as the sexuality and domination she is trying to deny) but it is never facile; and the rhythms of the road movie (leading through wonderfully bizarre locations to a resonantly melodramatic finale) confirm that Coppola’s prime talent lies in choreographing movement.” – Time Out