Rating: 
Summary: A WORK OF ART!
Review: One of the best movies I've seen in my life!. It combines an amazing adaptation from the book by Kirsty Gunn, the beauty of the hidden New Zealand north coast and the right music by ex-Crowded House vocalist (and New Zealand native) Neil Finn. I, tenderly, call this kind of movies "Pieces of Sausage" because what they show are pieces taken random from a long thing called life without any apparent (and predictable) begginning or ending. Just a simple yet wonderful piece of life in which we see ourselves reflected one way or another. A few movies inspired such beauty and I guess that the lack of features on the DVD (no languages, no closed-captions, no commentaries) were made on purpose in order to show the foreign-movie lover the pure essense of the movie exactly as it was intended -and magnificently delivered- by the director Christine Jeffs.
Rating: 
Summary: A KIWI GEM
Review: Set during a lazy summer holiday alongside the New Zealand coast RAIN explores the dynamic relationship between mother and daughter. Thirteen-year-old Janey is entering adolescence when her primary role model, her mother, is frequently drunk and engaging in infidelity acts. Torn between swimming and fishing with her younger brother Jim and imitating her mother's actions Janey appears to have a duel persona throughout the film. While watching over Jim during one of her parent's loud music and booze parties Janey manages to sneak alcohol and cigs while spontaneously kissing boys. RAIN does an admirable job in exploring how Janey explores her new devious side influenced by her mother along with her devoted love to Jim. Unfortunately this DVD lacks any special features and as previously stated by another reviewer I fail to comprehend the significance of the title (or maybe I'm thinking too hard). Although a couple of the plot developments were predictable it didn't deter too much from my enjoyment of this film. RAIN is a worthwhile film as Janey's troubles easily transcend national borders and is relevant to both girls and women across the globe. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: First in the line of Great Girl Films from Down Under
Review: This is the first and perhaps least known of a spurt of great girl films from Down Under, highlighted by Alicia Fulford's delightful performance. The other films, of course, were Rabbit Proof Fence (Everlyn Sampi) and Whale Rider (Keisha Castle-Hughes). This Oceanic "Girl-Trilogy" gives us a great perspective into the region's three primary ethnic groups: Europeans, Aborigines, and the Maori.The female director of Rain apparently used to make music videos, which show in the fine cinematography and soundtrack. The film often looks grainy and distorted, which helps to evoke a mood of hazy memories of a childhood summer vacation. The storyline appears to borrow heavily from Satyajit Ray's 1955 classic Hindu cinema debut, Pather Panchali. But it builds upon that base admirably with the added thematic dimensions of Janey's flowering feminine beauty and her family's unfulfilling bourgeois life, all framed beautifully with the marvelous cinematography and score. I have a hunch that in 5-10 years when all the glow comes off the other famous film trilogy from New Zealand, these three neglected feminine tales will all be viewed as superior films. Why wait for the masses, enjoy this film now!
Rating:
Summary: First in the line of Great Girl Films from Down Under
Review: This is the first and perhaps least known of a spurt of great girl films from Down Under, highlighted by Alicia Fulford's delightful performance. The other films, of course, were Rabbit Proof Fence (Everlyn Sampi) and Whale Rider (Keisha Castle-Hughes). This Oceanic "Girl-Trilogy" gives us a great perspective into the region's three primary ethnic groups: Europeans, Aborigines, and the Maori. The female director of Rain apparently used to make music videos, which show in the fine cinematography and soundtrack. The film often looks grainy and distorted, which helps to evoke a mood of hazy memories of a childhood summer vacation. The storyline appears to borrow heavily from Satyajit Ray's 1955 classic Hindu cinema debut, Pather Panchali. But it builds upon that base admirably with the added thematic dimensions of Janey's flowering feminine beauty and her family's unfulfilling bourgeois life, all framed beautifully with the marvelous cinematography and score. I have a hunch that in 5-10 years when all the glow comes off the other famous film trilogy from New Zealand, these three neglected feminine tales will all be viewed as superior films. Why wait for the masses, enjoy this film now!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Janey
Review: With a role models like her boozed out, partying mother and her slightly pathetic father who looks on while his wife carries on with another man, young teen Janey, explores her burgeoning sexuality in all the typical ways that can spell trouble. Being an adult means emulating her mother and as much as Janey despises this woman for her constant escapism through alcohol, her grasping need for sexual attention from a photographer acquaintance and her blatant disregard for her husband, she finds herself participating in all of the activities she has already defined as destructive to her family as a unit. After stumbling upon her mother embracing the photographer, Janey practices her kissing with a boy for which she has no feeling. She gulps down liquer she is supposed to be serving to adults at a party. She convinces her mother to alter an adult dress to fit her less developed body and places herself in the path of her mother's love interest, the photographer, whenever possible. Like her mother, she eventually shirks the responsibility of caring for her younger brother, leaving him to run wild on the beach while she doggedly pursues the photographer.
As in all such cautionary tales , such actions have a price, and Janey and her family pay a dear one.
Director Christine Jeffs uses slow motion photography and black and white sequences to highlight the more significant moments of this film. All in all, the film captures the confused angst of adolescent Janey as she lives through a summer that will change her entire life.
Recommended to those who are in the mood for a serious 90+ minutes spent in the mind of a young and troubled girl.
| 
