I was really looking forward to director Qiu Yang's “Some Rain Must Fall”, although it turned out to be a completely different film than I was expecting. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it was a crime thriller, as opposed to the family drama it turned out to be. Whilst I was a little shocked by this, I was not disappointed because the film that I did get was an excellent and devastating portrait of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, beautifully and confidently directed by the Melbourne trained Yang.
This is such an agonisingly sad film. The lead character, Cai, is miserable from the opening frame and her life gets slowly worse from there. She is in a loveless marriage, where she has just begun divorce proceedings, her teenage daughter doesn't respect or listen to her, she's sexually frustrated, and she is just generally unhappy in her life. Her (soon-to-be ex-) husband sees her as someone who is only there to look after him and his ailing mother (who lives with them), while the relationship with her own parents is severely strained due to a serious incident that happened between them all during Cai's own teenage years that she will never get over. Cai is such a tragic figure as you realise that for the majority of her life, she has been unhappy. This is echoed in a line of dialogue whispered by her mother, who says “a life wasted”, when Cai explains that she is finally divorcing her husband. Sadly, she says the line more as a criticism of her daughter, rather than being sympathetic. Eventually all the constant heartache and pain becomes too much to carry for Cai, who decides to unburden herself a little by explaining some of her past to her daughter, who thankfully is sympathetic and begins to have a deeper understanding of who her mother is, and just how unhappy she has been. It's an interesting moment when Cai realises that she has to do this, as the weight of her life has gotten too heavy to handle, and she will not be around much longer if she doesn't come to terms with and let go of some of the pain, as thoughts of self harm have started to enter into her subconscious.
With Cai being in every scene of the movie, “Some Rain Must Fall” lives and dies on the strength of Yu Aier's performance, who is outstanding. These kinds of roles are the ones I respect actors playing the most because I assume they have to be the hardest to play, as you are carrying around so much of your character's hurt and pain without any chance of levity (Cai does not smile once in the entire film); it must be exhausting. Yu Aier does such an excellent job of conveying the immense weight and frustration Cai is carrying at all times. Even the way she holds her body, hunched over, gives a sense of almost total defeat as she appears to age before us, as we watch her struggle with hit after hit. Whilst I said there was no moment of levity for Yu Aier and her character, she does at least get a moment of catharsis when she finally decides that enough is enough, and she needs to change her life for the better.
With how sad and depressing “Some Rain Must Fall” is, you may think that the film may be pared back visually to compliment this mood, however you would be wrong. “Some Rain Must Fall” has been exquisitely shot by cinematographer Constanze Schmitt, where every image is gorgeous and yet still works thematically within the film. It has been shot in the 4x3 square ratio which gives a sense of claustrophobia and of the walls closing in on poor Cai. Interestingly, Cai is always positioned towards the edge of the frame, which I think is a great visual representation of her being “on the edge” mentally. Schmitt's images are also often obscured by objects or plants, etc or shot through things like doorways, windows or again, objects. I read this as a visual way of showing that Cai is never the main focus in her own life; someone else's needs seem to mean more than her own happiness, and that she has become a supporting player in her own life, and never the star. Finally, almost every image has beautiful bursts of colour with bright reds, yellows, greens, blues and purples illuminating the frame. It is a stunningly shot film and may be my favourite looking film at this year's MIFF so far.
Director Qiu Yang has done a wonderful job with “Some Rain Must Fall”, particularly as it is her first feature, and I particularly loved the way she slowly fed more and more information about Cai's life to us, which makes the film even more tragic as it goes along. It never feels forced or done as a plot / story mechanic, but feels organic to her story. For instance, when her parents are introduced late in the film which, after Cai visits them, leads to a large revelation about her past that has forever tormented her. You can see that director Qiu Yang is both confident in her story and her ability to tell that story, and I loved that she wasn't afraid to tell it as slow as she does. Yes, this is an incredibly slow film, and I admit that this may turn some people off, but for me, I thought it helped in feeling the depth of the drama so much more. You just feel this poor woman's pain completely; it's devastating! I also loved that Yang didn't feel the need to fall back on music in an attempt to get her audience to feel something. I may be wrong, and feel free to correct me, but I am not sure “Some Rain Must Fall” has any music outside of source music the characters themselves are listening to (if there is, it is extremely limited).
So you may be wondering what the hell the title means? It actually refers to a line of dialogue spoken by Cai's husband (who is talking to Cai during a rainstorm) who explains that they had been talking of rain for days now, that eventually it had to come. The line is ultimately symbolic to the themes of “Some Rain Must Fall”, as for years Cai has been saying that she is going to make a change in her life, and begin by divorcing her husband, so by doing just that, she has finally taken her first steps towards a better and hopefully happier life. This line of dialogue is spoken in the film's final scene, which I thought was the perfect note to leave Cai's story on. I wouldn't call it a happy ending, but it is a new beginning for Cai, and a moment of catharsis for her where she can stop and finally breathe again, looking forward to what is ahead.
Overall, I was super impressed by Qiu Yang's “Some Rain Must Fall”. It has been exquisitely made with a devastating lead performance from Yu Aier. It is a glacial paced portrait of an unhappy woman reaching her limit. I'll admit it is a tough watch at times, due to how heavy the topic is, but personally I thought it was well worth it; it is an impressive feature debut!
3.5 Stars.
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