Going back into a director's early filmography can either be really exciting or really nerve-wracking. It is so interesting to me to see where many of today's legendary directors came from and this film from the Renaissance Era provides a great look into the early mind of Francis Ford Coppola. While the only film of his that I have seen is Apocalypse Now, I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge on him but unfortunately, I do not feel like The Rain People was the smartest start. This film works decently well on paper and there is nothing particularly wrong with it but I could not get myself invested in the plot at all. The direction from Coppola is very standard and I could really not tell at all that this film was by him based on the style. Many of this film's characters were very generic and made strange choices that I do not feel furthered the story at all and while I could see what Coppola was going for, it all just felt too lackluster. Thankfully this film is still watchable and there are some elements to enjoy or else I feel like this would be a rather forgettable entry into Coppola's slate of auteur movies.
Upon finding out that she is pregnant, Natalie (Shirley Knight), leaves her home and her manipulative husband to embark across the country and discover herself. She is never quite sure what she wants and she is never quite sure where she is going, but as she travels across the country, she runs into a few different characters who will teach her that sometimes helping lost souls is not always the path to finding your true self. This script, written by Coppola himself, is where I take the most issue with this film. I found this entire movie to be so frustratingly dull and Coppola makes it very difficult for me to get attached to any of these characters. I did enjoy how he chose to focus on one woman's struggles with love and discovering herself but it was too weak for my taste and moved at a painfully slow pace. I really wanted this film to be a stronger vehicle for Natalie's story but so many opportunities were wasted trying to develop her as a character. As a female main character, I was expecting a much more feminist take on the main protagonist's story but I did not get that at all. All of Natalie's story was centered around men and the way that they shaped her path was a choice I just could not get behind. There are a few moments throughout this film, such as Natalie playing Simon Says with Kilgannon in the hotel room, that I could see what Coppola was trying to go for but they did not last. Natalie is really just trying to prove that she can be her own woman and be the superior at times but the way that she kept falling under the influence and persuasion of the male characters was incredibly frustrating. I understand that getting upset over a film not being feminist when its point wasn't necessarily to be so is silly but the focus on how Natalie is consistently influenced by people around her instead of becoming her own person was irritating.
Regardless of how slow this film felt and how much I did not care for these characters, the performances from the main cast and the cinematography were fantastic. Shirley Knight is fantastic as Natalie and she embodies the subtleties of this woman very well. Her story begins with not much reasoning behind her leaving her husband but as her story plays out, she is revealed and unraveled as a character more and more as much as Coppola possibly could (which was still not nearly enough). I also enjoyed how the performances from Caan and Duvall complimented each other very nicely and they helped to progress this plot decently. I do not agree with the means that were used, but as characters, they were very pivotal in telling this full story. I also really enjoyed how Coppola decided to end this film on a low note of reflection. Not many films have the audacity to have such a degrading and frankly depressing ending but the reality and authenticity that radiates from this movie, especially in this oddly cathartic final scene, is amazing. Even though I could not decipher Coppola's style from this story very much or what he was trying to say through his characters, Bill Butler's cinematography was beautiful. From the opening montage and its long takes to simple car rides in which Natalie was driving, I was entranced by the various shot angles and close-ups that Butler uses to establish this world. A lot of these kinds of shots could be considered standard for today's camerawork but the way that he is able to make this movie visually appealing in the face of a mediocre story is extremely commendable. More than anything, I got a sense of the different genres that Coppola has tackled through his career as The Rain People has definitely proven to be one of the more interesting road trip films I have ever seen.
The Rain People is a decent but mostly unmemorable Coppola film that did not provide me any information about his directorial style at all. The solid drama premise was enough to keep me interested but this film never took any chances to go above or beyond. I did appreciate the focus on a woman's conflicts in the world of men as the central plot but I feel like so many different routes could have been taken to make this movie a much more compelling narrative.
My Rating: ★★★
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