Title: Rain or Shine
Director: (Think Barry Jenkins or Greta Gerwig for heartfelt storytelling, with visual flair akin to Wong Kar-wai)
Genre: Romantic Drama
Tagline: “Some love stories bloom even under stormy skies.”
Synopsis
In the rainy city of Portland, two timely strangers remember the same time in their lives and provide each other with comfort. Maya, played by Zazie Beetz, is a determined meteorologist who dabbles in poetry. We see her dealing with the consequences of being dumped in public. Eli, played by Lakeith Stanfield, is a carpenter and aspiring painter, who feels Ben’s loss as he is the only one to inherit the family business.
So, Maya and Eli collide totally unexpectedly on a tempestuous night at a weird laundromat in a strange neighborhood. Their roads continue to cross over the next few weeks as the rain progressively becomes a backdrop to their reunion. They’re probed by the fact that even when the sun is shining, the environment is turbulent. They sulk together in the memories of tough experiences among other things – Eli’s father dancing along to Maya’s poetry readings – and realize that love is nearly the same as weather – never entirely dependable, but always there.
The sun does sometimes defeat the clouds, forcing them to remerge with their insecurities and old wounds which would obliterate what little has been woven between them. Will they be brave enough to marry each other and forget everything else including the sunshine?
What Makes Rain or Shine Special?
- A Letter Addressed To The Rain; or, The Struggle With Endings
Portland isn’t just a city, it’s a figure—a subject if you will—of constant fluctuating climate and glamorous sparkling rain and is both icily sad and romantically tinged like Maya and Eli’s journey that eventually culminates in a sense of optimism. Hence with every storm, there comes a resolution and the shots combine lush imagery with a beautiful tragic sultry vibe, which reminds one of the film In the Mood for Love.
- Against The Sorrows Of The World, Complexity And Relatability
Maya (Zazie Beetz): For someone as vibrant as she is, it is ironic that she is afraid of being open; she’s endured being told by past lovers that she was ‘too much’. Her poems are vivid and exclamatory with inner storm and temptation: It is about storms with shimmers of sunshine.
Eli (Lakeith Stanfield): Quietly apprehensive and pensive, Eli finds himself between the two worlds of upholding his father’s name and driving himself towards his ambitions. His mother passed away leaving behind paintings of beautiful storms; he made weather what is above—that’s abstract art for you.
Their meeting has a chemistry that can only be compared to pre-rain; It is busy yet refreshing and comes across as real and raw.
Cinematic Techniques
Visuals
- Rain as a Motif: The rain is more than scenery—it’s a reflection of the characters’ emotions. In tense moments, the downpour is torrential; during tender ones, it softens to a mist, blurring the world and leaving only Maya and Eli in focus.
- Color Palette: Cool tones of blues and greys dominate, with pops of yellow (Maya’s umbrella, Eli’s rain boots) symbolizing hope and connection.
- Cinematography: Long, sweeping shots capture the intimacy of stolen glances, while lingering close-ups emphasize the depth of their unspoken emotions.
Soundtrack.
In spite of the lack of vocalists, the combination of rain sounds alongside guitar and piano songs fits the emotional highs and lows of the film. The scene in which Eli is revealing a painting, and Maya recites a poem as the camera shows Eli inside the studio with Billie Marten’s ‘Heavy Weather’ fading in is breathtaking.
Direction.
The tempo is slow, but at an appropriate speed such that as the characters are in love, so will the audience be. This love is quite strong and the director has deliberately used silence, as well as, slight actions to tell the audience how much these characters are connected.
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