Rain man. A story that doesn’t age


Some believe that the history of cinema is a few repetitive plots that are presented to the audience in different ways. And one of such eternal plots is the relationship of brothers, relatives by blood, but sometimes so different in character, temperament, and even outwardly. The plot is as old as the world, once again comes to life on the screen in the movie “Rain Man”. So, Some interesting facts about the film.

Why was it called that?

Why is the movie called “Rain Man”? The main character of the film, played by Dustin Hoffman, is named Raymond. His younger brother Charlie (Tom Cruise) remembers how in his early childhood the rain Man, Rain Man, came to him and sang songs to him. This was Raymond, who slurred his name, and the younger brother heard in him the mysterious “rain man”.

Critics believe that the screenwriters of the film, choosing such a name, paid tribute to Francis Ford Coppola, who was the director of the famous film “Rain People”.

The script

The story of the appearance of the script is worthy of making a separate film about it. Screenwriter Barry Morrow met a man named Bill. He was a handyman at the club where Morrow went. It turned out that even as a child, Bill was considered mentally retarded and sent to a hospital. No one took care of him there, he could not read and write, and the doctors gave up on the boy. Gradually, the attitude towards the patients of hospitals for the mentally retarded changed, and Bill’s life also changed. He began to live independently, found a job in a club, then became a barista, and the customers of the cafe where he worked loved him very much. Morrow was so impressed with this story that he wrote the script of a Golden Globe-winning television movie about it. Later, the screenwriter wrote another story for the movie, which we know as “Rain Man”.

Savant ‘s disease

Conventional wisdom says that Raymond suffers from autism. However, this is not entirely true. The disease of the main character is called Savant’s disease. People suffering from it are distinguished by extraordinary abilities in any field. For example, they have a very good memory, they remember information incredibly quickly. It is known that musicians with Savant’s disease can listen to a piece and immediately reproduce it from memory.

Casting

As always in the case of a good movie, the list of actors who could have played in it, but for one reason or another refused, is impressive. And not only to play. Steven Spielberg wanted to be the director of “Rain Man”, but then the project passed to Barry Levinson. Raymond could be played by Randy Quaid (and Charlie — his brother Dennis), Jack Nicholson, Bill Murray. But Charlie could be played by Dustin Hoffman, the studio was counting on it. As a result , the roles were distributed between Hoffman and Cruz, who was just starting his career then.

However, Hoffman was unhappy with his performance. Three weeks after the start of filming, he told Levinson: “Take Richard Dreyfuss or another actor for this role, because this is the worst acting in my career.” But in the end he got an Oscar.

According to the genre, “Rain Man” is a classic “road story”. The brothers travel, encountering new people, and for one of them this journey is forced. Critics noted that the genre, however, is not quite sustained. In the classic road movie, the characters change, and in “Rain Man” one of the characters is not capable of change. The more interesting it was to shoot and watch. By the way, the film crew traveled all the way of their heroes: they filmed in real motels and casinos. So the trip actually took place.

Qantas

Remember, the main character of the film Raymond says that he only flies Qantas planes because they have never had an accident. This is almost true: accidents at this airline were only with biplanes, and not with passenger liners. By the way, if “Rain Man” is shown on an airplane during a flight, then a scene in which Raymond talks about plane crashes is cut out of the film. And only Qantas is showing the full version of the film.

Success

The film, shot in 1988, is still watched and loved by thousands of movie fans. However, the members of the film crew, to put it mildly, doubted the success. An interesting fact is that Hoffman and During the filming, Cruz jokingly called the film “Two schmucks in the Car.” Could anyone have foreseen future success?

Oscars

The film “Rain Man” received four top Academy awards, including for best film, director’s work, male role and screenplay. One award was not enough for the “big five” – the Oscar for Best Actress, but Valeria Golino was not nominated for the award.

Music from the movie “Rain Man”

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