Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Rider on the Rain Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 22, 2019

René Clément's "Rider on the Rain" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film and exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. In French or English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Mellie

It is somewhat ironic that Rider on the Rain is arguably the most sophisticated European film that Charles Bronson appeared in because he never emerges as a formidable character in it. In fact, his presence essentially completes the character that Marlene Jobert plays.

A man arrives in a sleepy provincial town somewhere in the South of France and hours later breaks into a secluded home. He rapes a beautiful young woman (Jobert) and then hides in the cellar. When the woman recovers from the shock, she kills him with a rifle, and then ditches his body in the sea. On the following day, the woman decides not to tell her husband (Gabrielle Tinti), who is a pilot and on his way home, and resumes her life as if the rape never occurred. She even manages to fool her observing mother (Annie Cordy), who runs the town’s only bowling alley.

Soon after, however, a second man (Bronson) arrives in town, meets the woman and makes her realize that he knows plenty about her horrific experience. Then he demands that she gives him a large red bag that her attacker carried with him. When the woman refuses to cooperate, at first because she can’t recall the bag and later because she becomes concerned about her safety again, the man threatens to reveal her secret to her family. Meanwhile, the local authorities launch an investigation, and shortly after a body is recovered in a nearby beach, they announce that they have the ‘killer’ -- a waitress from Paris. The woman then decides that it is her duty to help the innocent waitress regain her freedom, but she has trouble evading the impatient visitor.

The great director Rene Clement gives this deceivingly simple thriller a very interesting dreamy quality, and the exact manner in which he does it is actually what makes it irresistibly attractive. Indeed, on one hand, Clement allows the violence and the ugly to freely flood the film and this instantly adds a thick dark vibe to it that would be perfect for one of those tough noirish crime dramas that Jean Gabin frequently appeared in (see The Night Affair). However, instead of ramping up the tension, Clement does precisely the opposite and in the process casually begins eroding the dark vibe with old-fashioned romance. This overlapping of contrasting qualities then becomes so distinct and lasts so long that it begins to look like Jobert’s character is moving through a dream. (In And Hope to Die, another good thriller from the same period, Clement actually does the same, despite the fact that the subject matter there is different. The dark crime story is effectively overshadowed by a warm romantic story in which Jean-Louis Trintignant’s character begin to fall in love with the wrong woman and at the wrong time).

Two different versions of this film were shot at the same time. The French version is slightly longer, but it does not have any additional/alternate content. Basically, it took a couple of extra minutes for Clement to shoot the exact same material in French.

This writer thinks that the French version is preferable because the overwhelming majority of the actors were native French speakers. Bronson looks great in both versions, and the overdubbing in the French version sounds really good.

*Jim Morrison, the iconic vocalist and frontman of The Doors, apparently saw the film multiple times when it was released and fell in love with it. It is said that the band’s cult hit “Riders On The Storm” was directly inspired by it.

Rider on the Rain Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, René Clément's Rider on the Rain arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

I have this R2 DVD release of Rider on the Rain from StudioCanal, which also features the two versions of the film. I am quite certain that the Blu-ray release is sourced from the same remasters that were used to produce the DVD ten years ago. (There were other Rene Clement titles that were remastered at the same time as well).

I prefer the French version of the film, and luckily it is the one that looks better in high-definition. While some of the darker indoor footage does not have the healthy nuances that a proper new 2K/4K remaster would retain, delineation and depth still range from good to very good. Close-ups with plenty of natural light can look very strong. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections, but grain can be better exposed and resolved. Also, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments, and this is one of the key reasons why the film has a nice organic appearance. The color grading is different on the two versions. The French version looks a lot better, as it retains plenty of strong primaries and healthy nuances. There is still some room for improvement, but overall this version has the better primaries and tonalities. The English version is graded incorrectly and changes the sunny weather to a cold autumn weather; a lot of the interior footage also collapses because of the awkward color tonalities. Image stability is very good. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Rider on the Rain Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The French track is clean, stable, and nicely balanced. Dynamic intensity is good as well, though there are only a couple of sequences where the film has the opportunity to impress with some more diverse dynamic nuances. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report.

Rider on the Rain Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary features critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. The three gentleman share plenty of factual information about the production of Rider on the Rain, its fluid style, Francis Lai's sondtrack, and Charles Bronson's career. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

• Trailer - an original French trailer for Rider on the Rain. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min, 480/60i).

• U.S. Teaser - an original U.S. teaser for Rider on the Rain. Sourced from a VHS release. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Radio Spot - an original U.S. radio spot for Rider on the Rain. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Trailers - trailers for other Kino Lorber Blu-ray releases.

Rider on the Rain Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are only a couple of films in Charles Bronson's body of work that can legitimately be called arthouse thrillers, and Rider on the Rain is the best one. I like it a lot because it has different layers of atmosphere that overlap in some very interesting ways, and Marlene Jobert and Bronson have some wonderful moments together. For what it's worth, I prefer the French version of the film. This recent Blu-ray release is sourced from an older master that was provided by StudioCanal, but I think that it offers quite an upgrade over the old R2 DVD release that the studio produced ten years ago. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.