Liebe niemals einen Fremden

Five years earlier and I doubt the movie could have found a distributor. It's slow, contemplative, and nothing much happens until the end. But for those who follow inner conflict as well as outer, it's a stunner. Pregnant suburban wife Knight hits the road, fleeing a consuming marriage. But she's not just fleeing, she's also aimlessly searching—note how she first bypasses Caan before hazily backing up. Trouble is Caan's brain damaged, and in need of adult supervision. Now Knight's in a pickle. On one hand, her budding maternal instinct kicks in; on the other, a grown child is too much what she's fleeing from. Thus, the confusion of her life mounts. But hey, she meets macho cop Duvall who's got adventure written all over him. Yet he turns out to be domineering and mean, probably too much like the husband she's abandoned. This leads up to an ending that is both touching and ironic.

For expansive post-war couples the suburbs were liberating; but a generation later and younger folks like Knight felt confined. This is a 60's road picture feminine style. When Americans get restless or unhappy, they head westward in frontier tradition. So why shouldn't a woman, even when alone and vulnerable. The acting here is outstanding, and it better be since character carries the story or what there is of it. I really like Caan who shows why less is sometimes more. And get a load of those desolate roadsides, no cosmetic Hollywood here. Too bad the film's so obscure in the Coppola canon. All in all, it's a telling reflection of a restless time, perhaps even of what some call the human condition. However, I can understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea, and certainly a long way from Coppola's next, The Godfather (1972).

A 30-ish wife on Long Island (Shirley Knight) needs to just get away and so enters her station wagon and drives west. To where? She doesn't know, but she picks up an ex-college football player (James Caan) before meeting a motorcycle cop (Robert Duvall).

"The Rain People" (1969) was made three years before Francis Ford Coppola became famous with "The Godfather." It was his first movie in which he had total creative control, writing and directing on the road without producers breathing down his neck. The story was inspired by Francis' mother curiously leaving home for a few days when he was a kid. It's about a woman's haphazard search for freedom from the manacles of domestic life. Unlike the domineering male protagonists of "Patton" (which he wrote), the Corleone patriarchs and Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now," Coppola shows us here several females manipulating men: Natalie with Kilgannon, Gordon and even Vinny; Ellen with Kilgannon and her father; and Rosalie with her dad.

Interestingly, it's the express opposite of Francis' previous movie, the fun "Finian's Rainbow," which was based on the 1947 Broadway hit. One is an energetic musical with a large cast while this has an everyday, depressing tone, made with a small cast & crew. While neither were successful at the box office, they both went on to garner cult followings after Coppola's great success in the 1970s-90s (of course he had a few movies that didn't do so well, but what else is new?).

I can see where many viewers would find "The Rain People" dull, but it features a daring premise and has historical significance, not to mention some notable cast members. Plus, it's a quality period piece for the late '60s. In regards to the commendable premise, Natalie loves her husband, but is uncertain about the responsibility of having his child and so instinctively flees the scene. Ironically, Killgannon becomes her surrogate 'child' on her road odyssey wherein she struggles with her obligations.

Concerning the 'historical significance,' the industry proudly cites "Stand Up and Be Counted" as the first flick to address women's liberation, which it overtly does. But this came out three years prior and few people noticed at the time because it's so covert. It was ahead of its time.

Francis originally intended to include a scene at the end to clear up what Natalie decides to do from there, but it wasn't needed because everything is explained in her monologue. Listen.

It runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot over the course of five months in several American states with a 10-person crew (along with a smattering of locals). The locations include: Garden City (opening shot), Manhattan (Lincoln Tunnel) & Hofstra University, New York; the Pennsylvania Interstate; Harrisonburg, Virginia (restaurant scene); Clarksburg (the drive-in theater) & Weston, West Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee (the parade); Brule (the burning house) & Ogallala (the reptile ranch), Nebraska; and other places for exterior shots.

GRADE: B/B-

This early Coppola work is overlong and erratic, but it is not devoid of praiseworthy qualities. The cinematography is excellent and the characters are memorable. James Caan is very convincing as the mentally handicapped hitchhiker. Also, because this film was shot on location all over the Eastern U.S., it offers an interesting, authentic look at America in the late 1960's. The title phrase does not have a significant meaning in the overall story, but only comes up during a conversation between the two lead characters (Caan and Shirley Knight). The way Coppola develops the characters by using short, dream-like flashbacks is very clever. In general, this film is not in the same class as Coppola's later work, but it's a solid character-driven story.

Francis Ford Coppola's first 'personal' film, completed and released in 1969, was the last movie he made as a mostly unknown, up and coming director before The Godfather, and is in stark contrast to both that film, and the rest of his uneven career. It's ostensibly a road movie involving a disconnected young woman bored with domestic life, and pregnant with a child she isn't sure she wants, fleeing the trappings her dull marriage and hitting the open road in search of freedom. Along the way she befriends a nice man, an ex-footballer player that suffered brain damage from a traumatic head injury, played in unexpectedly subtle fashion by a young James Caan, and decides to 'help' him, despite becoming frustrated with his simple ways. Her efforts to rid of him always fail, either by guilt or chance, and eventually lead her directly into the hands of an emotionally wounded cop(Robert Duvall), who has ideas of his own. The plot is threadbare, but Coppola does a great job at detailing the emotional life of these characters, and uses editing techniques to relay back story that were not at all common in American films of the time. Shots are simple, yet extraordinarily effective, conveying both the moody desolation of the open highway, and the emptiness of American suburban life, infused with a gentle melancholy provided by the film score. Coppola also deserves credit for addressing the issue of domestic discontent from a woman's point of view in the culturally turbulent 60's. Overall, a fairly low-key film that is not what audiences have come to expect from Coppola, but one that is a minor triumph in its own quiet, unassuming way. 7.5/10.

I have a letter from Ms. Knight, who went to college with my older sister. In it, she tells of the hardships of making this film. She, herself, was pregnant--an interesting conjunction with the movie's plot--and the novice director was unsure, fairly green, and having great difficulties with all the decisions, logistics, etc. They were on the move all the time, and it was a very difficult shoot.

The film, however, with a strong debut for James Caan, remains effective and affecting. It's a great showcase for the talent that Ms. Knight has demonstrated her entire career--on television, in movies and on the stage, where she won the Tony for "Kennedy's Children."

This film has aged well.