Rain
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Rain
Plot
Television commercial director Christine Jeffs makes her feature debut with this intense family drama about the collapse of a marriage and the dissolution of a mother-daughter relationship. Thirteen-year-old Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki) and her younger brother Jim (Aaron Murphy) are largely left alone in their seaside bungalow as their parents try to piece their marriage back together. While Janey's mom Kate (Sarah Peirse) gets blind drunk, flirts with other men, and nurses hangovers, her father Ed recoils in disgust at his wife's dissolute behavior. The family's simmering tensions explode with the appearance of Cady, a rakish freelance photographer. While Kate immediately starts to flirt with the younger man, Janey herself is attracted to him, believing that he is her only ticket out of her dysfunctional family. Soon Kate and Janey find themselves locked in a desperate and despairing battle for Cady. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, RoviReview
Rain doesn't have a particularly exciting or original plot, it suffers from a contrived and overly melodramatic ending, and it's too portentous for its own good (due in part to heavy-handed symbolism and overuse of slow motion shots). Nonetheless, director Christine Jeffs successfully conveys the languid mood of a hazy, booze-drenched summer vacation, thanks to the gorgeous cinematography by John Toon, a melancholy score by Neil Finn (from the rock bands Split Enz and Crowded House) and Edmund McWilliams, and the judicious inclusion of Dusty Springfield's "Spooky" on the soundtrack. Furthermore, Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki gives a convincing, natural performance as a sullen adolescent who is exploring her sexuality while disdaining her alcoholic mother, and Aaron Murphy is particularly appealing as her younger brother. The film fares better at attention to small details than at making big statements, but its visual style and performances make it interesting despite its flaws. ~ Todd Kristel, RoviCast
- Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki - Janey
- Sarah Peirse - Kate
- Marton Csokas - Cady
- Alistair Browning - Ed
Credit
Diana Rowan - Casting, Chris Short - First Assistant Director, Christine Jeffs - Director, Robin Scholes - Executive Producer, Judith Trye - Line Producer, Neil Finn - Composer (Music Score), John Toon - Cinematographer, Philippa Campbell - Producer, Christine Jeffs - Screenwriter, Kirsty Gunn - Book Author| Rain (1932 Film), Railways of Italy (1990 Film) | |
| Rain (2007 Film), Rain (2006 Film) |
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Rain
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Rain (2001 film)
This article is about the 2001 New Zealand film. For the 2001 Iranian film, see Baran (film).
| Rain | |
|---|---|
 French theatrical poster for Rain |
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| Directed by | Christine Jeffs |
| Produced by | Philippa Campbell |
| Written by | Christine Jeffs |
| Starring | Marton Csokas Aaron Murphy Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki Alistair Browning |
| Editing by | Paul Maxwell |
| Release date(s) | 2001 (New Zealand) 2002 (USA) |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
Rain is a 2001 New Zealand film directed by Christine Jeffs. A debut film by Jeffs, it was released in New Zealand in 2001 and internationally in 2002. It concerns the coming of age of 13-year-old Janey, and is based on the novel Rain, written by Kirsty Gunn. Rain was produced by Philippa Campbell.
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Contents
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Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki | Janey |
| Marton Csokas | Cady |
| Aaron Murphy | Jim |
| Alison Routledge | Heather |
| Sarah Peirse | Kate |
| Alistair Browning | Ed |
Plot
Janey is on vacation with her brother Jim, mother Kate, and father Ed, at their beach house on the Mahurangi Peninsula in New Zealand. Ed and Kate, who are on the verge of divorce, sit in the backyard all day drinking whiskey, leaving their young children to amuse and fend for themselves. Cady, a local boatie who is having an affair with Kate, catches Janey's pubescent eye. In response to his wife's problems with alcohol and infidelity, Ed turns to alcohol, neglecting his children almost as much as his wife. When Janey sees Cady photographing Kate on his boat, she persuades him to take pictures of her as well. Then, like her mother, she wants something else from him.
Leaving little Jim alone on the beach, Janey leads Cady high into the woods. After posing for him, she takes his camera and tells him how to pose. She adjusts his shirt and tells him to strip off. Then she puts his camera aside and starts touching him all over. They kiss, her head tilts back, and the screen goes black-and-white.
In the next scene, Janey lies alone in the woods naked. She is next seen walking back down the woody hillside to the beach. Off in the distance she sees her brother's little body. She runs the length of the beach to him, screaming his name.
When she reaches him she launches into frenzied CPR: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, breathe! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, breathe!" Her father arrives and takes over the CPR. Janey begs him, "Make him breathe!" and when he says he is trying, she yells at him that he isn't. They eventually have to realize that they are too late to save Jim and to save the family.
See also
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