Rider on the Rain by René Clément

PostED ON 21.10.2022

Rider on the Rain, 1970 © DR

"Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.” This line, taken from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (Lewis Carroll), symbolises the story of René Clément's ‘Rider on the Rain’. This whodunit, brimming with love, enhanced by Francis Lai's heart-wrenching soundtrack, belongs to the late career of Clément, splendidly melancholic. The heroine, played by Marlène Jobert in pixy redhead mode, aptly named Mélancolie, chides the ‘dirty cat smirk’ of the character played by Charles Bronson, who advises her to let her nails grow.

Written by Sébastien Japrisot, who saw a shattered vulnerability in women, ‘Rider on the Rain’ remains a journey through the heart of a small off-season seaside resort. Nothing there is accurate; nothing visible is reality. At the heart of this world, which is disrupted by murder and trafficking, Clément, who is so fond of double-floored rooms and houses with secret basements, devotes himself primarily to the sensitive feelings of his two protagonists. What haunts him are the disappointed hopes, the betrayals endured, and gradually, intensely, the birth of love. The violence of the thriller provokes tense situations that strengthen the bond between a heroine who is finally noticed and a man who is sure of himself but allows himself to be surprised. Each carries a poignant innocence that makes them unforgettable. 

Virginie Apiou

Screenings:

Rider on the Rain by René Clément (Le Passager de la pluie, 1970, 2h)

> INSTITUT LUMIÈRE Friday, October 21, 10:30am
> CINÉMA OPÉRA Saturday, October 22, 4:15pm