Rain

...an evocative mood piece, enriched by gorgeous visuals ... generally, the direction is mature and controlled, not just in visual terms but in the assured handling of the actors. Like so many New Zealand filmmakers, Jeffs and d.p. [director of photography John] Toon display a remarkable feel for nature and landscape and for the soft, glowing light particular to parts of the Southern Hemisphere.

– David Rooney reviewing Rain in Variety, 15 May 2001

I read the book about four times. I carried it around in my purse and it was kind of thumbed and underlined. I was haunted by it, but I didn’t really know where to start. I hadn’t ever adapted a book before, I hadn’t made a movie before, I wasn’t sure about the process...

– Writer/director Christine Jeffs on Kirsty Gunn's book Rain, IndieWire website, 23 April 2002

Rain is a sensual, moody coming-of-age drama of wide implications and stunning impact that marks an important feature debut for New Zealand writer-director Christine Jeffs.

– Kevin Thomas in a rave review of Rain, The Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2002

I think the landscape is very changeable, very transient, like relationships are . . . even though the family is in a house beside the water, a lot of the time we filmed them in that landscape when the tide was out. There’s a sense of things coming unstuck — feet stuck in the sand, the boat beached like a whale. There’s a sense that things are not as they should be, that there’s a longing there, like when the water has run out and the land longs for it to come back in. Things are unsettled, on the move, just out of reach.

– Writer/director Christine Jeffs in an interview for website IndieWire, 23 April 2002

Almost from the start, you know something bad is going to happen, and somehow, through minute emotional cues rather than overt foreshadowing, you form a pretty clear idea of what it will be and whom it will befall. . . . for the most part Ms. Jeffs handles the volatile material of her story with devastating calm.

– New York Times reviewer AO Scott, 26 April 2000