Rider on the Rain

• French: Le passager de la pluie
• Directed by René Clément
• January 21, 1970 (France)

An American Army colonel stationed in France tracks down an escaped sex maniac.

I grew up in a time when Charles Bronson was known for hyper violent movies like Death Wish or its multiple sequels. He turned out his actioners rather regularly as he sought a paycheck from Canon Pictures. The man had some talent as displayed in much of his earlier work.

Rider on the Rain is an interesting movie that in contrast to Bronson’s later work relies almost entirely on dialogue and characterization rather than on the blind violence. Col. Harry Dobbs (Bronson) is a mysterious investigator who seems to know just about everything yet is still searching for clues. It is a layered performance of a man that teases and manipulates for ends that you are left considering may be more than is revealed at first glance. Bronson is good as the sly and devious by necessity Dobbs. You never know quite what his angle is but he doesn’t come off as mean. Maybe mildly threatening but beneath it all he’s not a menace. This is a much more controlled performance than Bronson was known for.

His investigation centers on Mélancolie “Mellie” Mau (Marlène Jobert) who is attacked in her home while her airline pilot husband is away. In a panic, having killed her attacker, she disposes of the body and keeps the assault secret. The story is about her fear of being arrested for murder and trying to discern exactly what Dobbs knows and what his motives are. The rape scene I found hard to watch which is what should always happen in those cases.

Mellie has an emotionally distant mother and a father that has been MIA for years so there’s the implication of daddy issues because mommy is quite the hoe. The mom we get in this though is some cross between Mrs. Brady but also cold and rather mean spirited. It leaves the character emotionally vulnerable to events.

While the movie keeps you hooked with a level of uncertainty, one development is telegraphed. I knew the movie was going to end on it, but I did not see where it occurred in the story. Dobbs and Mellie fall in love. There’s this thing with nuts and tossing them at a window and if you break the pane, you’re in love. Both did it at different points in the story but when these two fell in love I have no idea. I guess it was seen as necessary for the story but it really wasn’t. 

The soundtrack is fantastic. It’s really beautiful music that helps accentuate the thriller aspect as well as the general locations. Rider on the Rain is a dialogue heavy movie as the characters feel each other out. It never bores because the characters just aren’t sitting and staring at each other going in rhetorical circles. Rather there is movement and an exchange of ideas as if they are having a real genuine conversation you’ve been given access to see.

They are plenty of twists and turns along with a few red herrings to keep your interest along with great dialogue in a non-violent performance by Charles Bronson. He’s a little bit of a jerk, but he’s not going to hurt you seriously or get in a heated argument over mayonnaise. That happened in one of his later movies.

Mellie finds out her husband cheated on her with her friend Nicole (Jill Ireland) because of all the chaos Dobbs has stirred up. That is completely ignored by the end of the film with Mellie looking to be sticking with her hubby by the closing credits. I expected her to at least have left town but instead she flies off with her cheating airline husband. It would’ve made much more sense for her to go off on her own. A sum of $60,000 enters into the story and I think Mellie ends the film with it in her possession. That is a tidy sum to begin a new life with. That would be my only gripe.

Rider on the Rain is a good thriller. It’s a bit unexpected from Charles Bronson but worth it for anyone who likes a good movie.