Le passager de la pluie

I finally tracked down a copy of this rare gem on VHS here in T.O. and what can I say, this is an underrated and unique piece of fimmaking. I don't believe there's been anything like it before or since. The best use of Bronson's action hero persona since "Once Upon a Time in the West". It really is a shame that in the thirty plus years of Bronson's film career that he never found anything approaching this quality. Intelligently written and beautifully filmed, the movie resembles something of a photographed play with the lovely Marlene Jobert and Charlie squaring off in an unusual cat and mouse tale almost entirely consisting of their two characters during its' running time. I am officially begging either Anchor Bay or Blue Underground or whoever to produce a widescreen DVD of this little known film treasure.

I read somewhere that "Rider on the Rain" was Charles Bronson's favorite of all the movies that he made. I don't really understand that. He made quite a few better movies than this one. It has taken me several viewings of this film to begin to appreciate it. "Rider on the Rain" is almost a really good movie. It has a nice vibe to it. Bronson and the dreamy Marlene Jobert work well together. The movie is a little bit too long and gets a little confusing at times. The music is hit and miss. Although "Ride on the Rain" doesn't quite hit the mark for me, I do find myself watching it every once in a while. Just for the record, I enjoyed this movie tonight more than I have in the past.

*Note: the review title in subject refers to a line from the classic song "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors. Allegedly, singer/songwriter icon Jim Morrison was a fan of this movie and it inspired him to write what is perhaps the most legendary song of the band. If this piece of trivia info is only even remotely truthful, it's enough reason to track down and watch the film!

As for the film itself, "Rider on the Rain" is an absorbing and uniquely mysterious thriller with a downright fabulous first half hour and very atypical but brilliant performance by Charles Bronson. Throughout most of the 60's, Bronson depicted supportive characters in big productions ("The Magnificent Seven", "The Great Escape", "The Dirty Dozen", "Once Upon a Time in the West") and from the mid-70's and onwards he became hopelessly typecast as a lonesome and silent action hero ("Death Wish", "The Mechanic", "Telefon"…). But what few people know is that Charles Bronson appeared in a number of vastly superior European (more specifically French and Italian) cult movies during the late 60's and early 70's, and in these films he actually illustrated intellectual, eloquent and occasionally even very sinister characters. "Rider on the Rain" truly has one of the moodiest intros ever filmed, as we witness how a tall and uncanny looking man gets off a bus in a French coastal town near Marseille. Whilst meandering in the pouring rain, he spots the feisty redhead Mellie and follows her home. He rapes the girl, but she manages to kill her assailant with a shotgun. As she has an egocentric mother and a mistrustful husband, Mellie chooses not to call the police and dump the body from a cliff into the sea. This goes well until the next weekend at the wedding of a friend; Mellie is approached by a handsome but mysteriously behaving American who asks her a lot of strange questions. This man, Mr. Dobbs, suspiciously seems to know a lot about the crime Mellie committed and brutally attempts to force her into confession.

"Rider on the Rain" actually spirals down TOO MUCH into Hitchcockian mystery/thriller territory. The first couple of encounters between Mellie (short for Melancholy, in fact) and Mr. Dobbs are truly intense and compelling because you assume that the pieces of the puzzle will gradually fit together later on. But then the emphasis stubbornly remains on secrecy and endless dialogs and we receive not the slightest bit of information in return. The film is quite long – just over two hours – and we literally have to be patient until the climax before getting any answers. Your curiosity stays, of course, and the acting performances from both Charlie Bronson and the foxy Marlène Jobert remain a joy to behold, but sadly the movie eventually is too talkative and overlong to be considered as an essential must-see in the thriller genre. This is already the second time I run into this issue with a René Clément film, actually. "The Deadly Trap" also revealed absolutely nothing of its plot until the final five minutes. Luckily enough, "Rider on the Rain" still has a fascinating concept, a strong opening and excellent performances, whereas "The Deadly Trap" was just an incoherent and pretentious mess from start to finish. Clement is often referred to as the French Hitchcock, but from what I've seen he tries to be too much of a Hitchcock copycat. I will urgently have to check out some of his older work, like "Forbidden Games" and "Purple Noon", as those are reputedly genuine masterpieces. And yet, this one still comes warmly recommended if only to see a totally different side of Charles Bronson.

This movie, simply put, is Charles Bronson at his absolute best, and proves that he does indeed have the ability to handle drama/suspense. He delivers an extremely convincing performance which is, arguably, his very best. It is too bad that this movie is as obscure as it is, because if it had been produced state-side and been more mainstream, he might have enjoyed a much more critically-acclaimed career, deserving of a lifetime achievement Academy Award. However, this is not the case and die-hard Bronson fans get to enjoy this little gem while the rest of the world misses out because they were too busy shunning the unfairly typecast Bronson.

Considering its huge success in France and much of Europe at the time of its release, René Clément's Le Passager de la Pluie/Rider on the Rain (which also won the golden globe award for best foreign film) has been relatively forgotten. Yet, after 50 years, the film remains a highly original, captivating thriller, filled with peculiar imagery, symbolism and suspenseful mystery. Though it has some Hitchcockian influences and makes some homages to the great master of suspense, it is really a unique mystery, unlike anything made before or after it. From its moody opening sequence in the rain, to a chilling rape scene, the film develops into an idiosyncratic intrigue, that entices the viewer largely thanks to the interactions between its two magnetic main characters, played by Marlene Jobert and Charles Bronson, both on their way to become two of the most popular stars in France at the time. The two enjoy amazing chemistry, as Bronson tries by any means to get Jobert to admit that she has killed the man who raped her and Jobert does her best to outmaneuver him. Though this cat and mouse game goes on for most of the film, the viewer's attention is maintained through some interesting plot twists and imaginative dialogue that has some amusing recurring themes. The beautifully melancholic musical score by Francis Lai greatly contributes to the strangeness of it all. What makes the story particularly meaningful, however, is that the central plot is clearly an allegory for Jobert's character's subconscious and conscious struggle as a fragile, repressed and dominated young woman, who through traumatic events, manages to eventually confront her demons and assert herself. In this sense, despite the abusive treatment of her character (interestingly named Melancholy), the film is arguably well in tune with the rising feminism of the period. Marlene Jobert's superb performance is key to the film's success. She is very convincing and charming in her girlish portrayal of this modern Alice in Wonderland, effectively conveying innocence, confusion, fright, hysteria, sadness, and a range of other emotions. Meanwhile, Charles Bronson is excellent as her enigmatic pursuer and saviour, whose real motives are not clear until more than halfway through the film. Bronson, who had recently become an international star with Once Upon a Time in the West, plays his usual tough guy persona, but with more depth and intelligence than most of the roles that would follow. Ultimately, Le Passager de la Pluie works thanks to the performances of this duo, which is maybe why it is not more remembered. Unfortunately, Jobert became much less active in films from the 1980s, while Bronson became increasingly associated with a vengeful, violent persona, rather removed from the more interesting character he plays here. Incidentally, it is worth noting that the French version of the film is more satisfying that the English one, where every-one except Bronson is dubbed, mainly because the dialogue works better in its original language.