Regen

The Rain, one of Ivens’ best-known and most complex works, is characterized by an innovative style. It is an extraordinary poem, originally silent and without subtitles. “The only succession in The Rain is the beginning, the crescendo and the end of the shower. There are no subtitles or comments. The film must have a visual effect only. The actors are the rain, heavy drops, wet people, dark clouds, glinting wet streets and so on. The diffuse light over the dark houses created effects I would never expect”. Ivens didn't separate from his camera for several months, ready to shoot every time a storm was going to come. in different places and at different times. But the film is not just a documentary. “The rain is not only the concept of rain or the state of a rainy time and place. It consists of many singularities, presenting the rain as it is, pure power or quality which represents all the possible rains, without abstractions, and their corresponding spaces. [...]” (Gilles Deleuze) The Rain was included in the “Studio 28” program, the most important essai movie theatre in Europe. In the following years two soundtracks were composed for the film, but Ivens always preferred the silent version. This work, together with The Bridge, made him internationally well-known.