Rain

My friend and I spent the after-movie coffee trying to decide whether Rain was indeed the best New Zealand movie we have seen. An intense, evocative slice of 1970s beach holiday life, there is nothing about it that doesn't work.

This project clearly couldn't have worked or even happened if it weren't for the amazing discovery of the star, the very young Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki. She makes Rain an uncomfortably accurate portrayal of what it's like to be inside an adolescent girl's body and life. Her character, Janey, is twelve-going-on-twenty, experimenting with the power that can come from being a young woman, full of new secrets. Her performance is intense in a deliciously natural way and carries the entire film.

While her character is central, this is not just another coming-of-age story. We also see the complex interactions of her family members and various holiday acquaintances and watch tested loyalties, experiments in love and attraction, and quite a bit of swimming and fishing.

The cinematography is distinctive and excellent, all the other actors are faultless and the soundtrack, by Kiwi icon Neil Finn, is exactly right. Rain is a frighteningly impressive debut by director, Christine Jeffs.

I am a real sucker when it comes to movies that deal with subjects such as coming-of-age, first loves, families dividing, and independence in the younger generation. So it was no surprise to me that I found myself wrapped in the story of "Rain," a 2001 import from New Zealand about a 13-year-old girl watching her family slowly separate with the coming of a photographer, who takes a shine to her emotion-drained mother. As her mother and the photographer begin an extramarital affair, young Janey also struggles to teach her younger brother in the ways of the world, and combat the fact that she has an attraction toward this man herself.

"Rain" is played with a straight face, but this is to its advantage. It is a nice little film about many subjects; some of which we can relate to, others we hope never to. The plot does not thicken or compound itself with complications and big, astronomical twists. For most of its running time, it's sort of mundane. It almost seems like a Yasujiro Ozu film with a constantly moving camera. It presents life as it is without becoming melodramatic or hyperbolic and I think this is the reason why a lot of us can understand the position of Janey, who is very well-played by Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, and get involved in a story that is edited with gentle pacing.

Some of the directing is a little hampered (no surprise, since it was Christine Jeffs's debut) but is overcome by deliberately rich symbolism. There are symbols and graphic representations found all throughout this movie and a sharp-eyed person will be very appreciative toward them. Example: daughter wants to confront her mother about a touchy issue with a little hostility. Her brother is off to the side, blowing bubbles through his straw into his drink to simulate boiling water: a parallel to the brewing animosity between the two characters.

The movie is also rich with its details about the coming-of-age part of a person's life and this is what, I think, really drew me in. Janey is on-screen almost all of the time and we see her go through the rough parts of growing up. She experiences her first kiss, her first crush on an adult, her strives for independence from her parents brews, her desire to both instruct her younger brother and to get away from him, to stand on her own two feet, etc. We've all been there before. We don't get that many (compelling) coming-of-age stories these days and so a movie like "Rain" is worthy of appreciation.

Performances are very good. Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, most of the time, stays solid in her characters and expresses her emotions (many of them withheld) wonderfully. She's a very good actress. As her emotionally-drained, seemingly lifeless mother, Sarah Peirce is very good, representing her inner feelings remarkably well while keeping a straight, seemingly exanimate face. The same can be said of Alistair Browning as the father. There's great energy in the performance by Aaron Murphy as the young, highly adventurous and free-spirited brother and a solid performance from Marton Csokas, whom "Lord of the Rings" fans are sure to recognize. There's also a very good supporting performance from David Taylor as the boy down the beach with a crush on Janey. His part, though very small, also contributes to this very sweet little painting of a movie.

Warning: parents considering showing this movie to children might want to take into mind a brief, erotic prelude scene to lovemaking, and some brief flashes of male genitalia during a beach scene.

In New Zealand, the teenager Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki), her young brother Jim (Aaron Murphy), her mother Kate (Sarah Peirse) and her father Ed (Alistair Browning) are spending their summer vacation in a seaside cottage. Janey takes care of Jim most of the time, teaches him how to have endurance under the water, and observes the behavior of her parents, whose marriage is near the end. Kate and Ed promote many parties in the house and mainly Kate drinks a lot. She is also having an affair with the photographer and owner of a boat, Cady (Marton Csokas). The confused adolescent, rebel with her mother and dealing with a growing sexuality, tries to act like an adult with tragic consequences to the family.

"Rain" is a great surprise, being a profound, powerful, nostalgic and sensitive coming to age and family drama. The impressive and very mature debut of the young actress Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki in the key role of Janey would certainly deserve a nomination to the Oscar if "Rain" were a Hollywood movie. The story is very simple and dramatic, but never corny, all the characters are very well developed though their personal dramas and the very convincing performance of the unknown cast is amazing and touching. This is the first work of director Christine Jeffs that I see, and I am very impressed with her sensibility and taste. The music score is wonderful, and the cinematography is indeed very beautiful. I would like to record my congratulations to the people involved in this little gem. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Chuva de Verão" ("Summer Rain")

It does not actually rain in this movie, but there is a sullen, overcast feel to it. Usually family holidays are recalled with some affection – the bad bits edited out. In this family's story from the 1970s there's not much that is pleasant to recall. Mum is drinking herself to oblivion and having an affair with a neighbour, Dad is not coping either, and the 13 year old daughter is confused and frightened by the goings on. Her little brother, a sunny kid, is not so affected. Early on, it is plain that some kind of tragedy is going to happen.

Apart from some of the flattened vowels, and the unremarkable coastline just north of Auckland this is a story that could be set anywhere amongst the aimless middle classes of western society– the people who have what they need or more, but who have no higher ambition but to joylessly consume. In the wife's case this is unfortunately alcohol. Her daughter has reached puberty but has to cope on her own. (the local boys seem to be behind her in development anyway).

As the daughter, Alicia Fulford-Wierbicki puts in a fine performance, as does Sarah Pierce as the mother. The men are all pretty shapeless with Marton Csokas doing a glowering Russell Crowe number as the mother's lover.

It's a bleak story but well done.

Rain is the type of New Zealand movie that New Zealanders love. Slice of Kiwiana presented with high art mixed with bleakness.

People have berated the double barreled ending as contrived but it is also symbolic. Janey comes of age through one event and is hit home that she can't go back through the other.

The acting is great. And the cinematography almost steals the show.

Kiwi batch life is presented in full force. A young girl's all too fast growing up because of the parents selfishness is presented with only a hint of sentimentality and emotional manipulation.