As she watches her parents' marriage start to disintegrate, a 13-year-old girl in 1970s New Zealand finds that her own changing emotions carry a heavy price in this moving coming-of-age drama. Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, Sarah Peirse, Marton Csokas star. 92 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo.

Average Customer Review: ( 16 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

Janey seems to resent her mother and the way she treats her father. She realizes her parent's photographer friend is more than a friend to her mother...much more. Janey begins to fixate on the photographer and offers to be more than his photography subject which she ends up paying for dearly.

This film is directed by Christine Jeffs and is her first feature film. She has won awards for her Television Commercial Direction which is understandable in the film Rain through her use of slow motion photography. There are several slow motion shots that filter in and out of the film giving it a surreal yet creepy feel.

The pacing is comfortably slow and feels right for the story. The plot unfolds naturally and pulls you in for a gentle ride that unexpectedly becomes thrilling towards the panicked end. Janey is so easy to fall in love with. Her emotions are human and easy to relate to and I felt like I understood her to the core.

Actress Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki plays Janey and captured my heart with her honest performance. Her performance is very impressive, especially considering this is her first feature film and she comes across as an experienced natural. Aaron Murphy plays the little brother and he is precious and real. The casting for this film is right on and makes this character driven movie 5 stars.

This film is based on the novel Rain by Kirsty Gunn. This is one of the first times that a movie was more impressive than the book on which it was based. ...

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:

A KIWI GEMJun 06, 2003
By S. Calhoun "rhymeswithorange"
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!

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Rain - An element of cinema for all the sensesJul 26, 2003
By Arielle Mozart
I've only seen this film once, but once is enough to proclaim this flick as my new all-time favourite! The cinematography and location of the film in scenic New Zealand is absolutely and positively phenominal, and that alone would have anyone gazing in amazement at the simplistic beauty and phenominal nature of the film narrated by the main character: Janey. Simple, beautiful, natural, and amazing - four elements of a wholesome and gratifyingly delicious story of life, old/young love, jealously, adultery, escape, guilt, imagination, sorrow, regret, innocense, and death, amongst a broken family of four attempting to tape together the pieces - all in perspective through the eyes of a twelve year old..... Now you do the math! Two thumbs, and Five Stars for a movie that's 'as right as rain': )

9 of 11 found the following review helpful:

Where's the Rain?Mar 01, 2003
By Amanda
I'm not quite sure where this film got its title, seeing as though I don't think it rained once throughout the whole thing. But who was noticing? 'Rain' is a powerful coming-of-age drama that centers around 13-year-old Janey. Janey seems to have a great relationship with her little brother, but her relationship with her parents is flawed. In the scenes where Janey catches a glimpse of her mother getting up-close and personal with the family photographer friend, Cady, she doesn't seem at all surprised. Her mother drinks most of the time, but isn't a mean drunk. She just downs a few at all the beach parties they throw at the house, and runs off into the bathroom to committ adultery with Cady, all while her husband looks on sadly. He doesn't look all that surprised, either. At the parties, Janey is just the drink-server, and usually gets a sip of alcohol from whatever Cady is drinking. Her mother sees this, but doesn't do too much about it. A lot of this film is like this. This family has the worst communication skills I think I have ever seen in a movie. And while all of this is going on with her mother and the photographer, Janey herself is coming to grips with her own sexuality - there is a local boy who obviously likes her, but she just toys with him by kissing him, then ignoring him. She doesn't like him, but she doesn't tell him that. Again with the bad comminication.

This is beautiful film - literally. Filmed in New Zealand, the scenery is magnificent. Even if you didn't enjoy the story, you would certainly enjoy the view. The performances are all wonderful, especially Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, who plays Janey. She is a remarkable young actress who will go places. However, despite the fact that it's good, it is not at all a cheery film. After a while, you begin to sense that something bad will happen. You don't know when, and you don't know what, you just know that stories like this don't usually have happy endings. But that's why movies like this are better than your average blockbuster film. This is more like real life.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

One summer and so much more...May 03, 2003
By Michaela
I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie. I expected something of the Lolita kind of movie, but it turned out to be something completely else. Truth is that there was a 13-year old girl and much older guy involved, but the story certainly didn't evolve around that. It was basically an excerpt from a young girl's life and some of the most important moments of her life fall into that 'excerpt'. A summer that changed young Janey's life forever. One of the most important moments of the movie was when Janey told her father in front of her mother that "she [the mother] has him wrapped around her finger" and other truths about her mother and her behavior; and then stands up and leaves with her mother wanting to follow her when the father stops the mother and says "leave her, she's growing up". At that moment you can feel how pathetic the whole situation in which the family finds itself is, how well Janey knows what is going on and is disturbed by it - how she's turning from an innocent child into an adult feeling the weight of the reality on her unexperienced shoulders - that all is toppled later in the movie. It is a movie about growing up, about loss of innocence, about need for a better communication among people, about the need for 'caring for other people, not only yourself', about problems that need solving....about life.
This is a real life movie.
Great performances, great New Zealand scenery, perfect music. Thumbs up to Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki.

See all 16 customer reviews on Amazon.com