Let me just start off by saying that the haters of this film are just straight up wrong. "I Come With The Rain' is a challenging, layered, symbolic film that is no doubt confusing early on, but really comes together forming an exceptional experience. The film follows an ex-cop (Josh Hartnett) who is hired to find the missing son of a powerful pharmaceutical conglomerate boss. This leads him to Hong Kong, where the path to this man's son goes through a local gangster (Byung-hun Lee). A lot of people seem to think that the films too loaded with themes of redemption, Christianity mythology, and corruption but I personally found that they all were interwoven together beautifully. Hartnett's character is particularly engaging as a man who is haunted by the demons of a serial killer from his past. Throughout the film he is constantly tormented by this and it's emotionally affecting and creepy. For this ex-cop finding the son of this wealthy man isn't about reward or moral code, but his redemption and salvation from his past. Anh Hung Tran presents a world that is full of suffering and evil things. Even this local gangster is shown in this state of suffering as he tries to desperately locate his girlfriend/drug-slave/whatever who was taken from him in the beginning of the film. We see the pain in this man's eyes and although he appears to be a powerful man, he can't escape the suffering which this world presents. Another key scene involves a flashback between Hartnett's cop and the serial killer, played brilliantly by Elias Koteas. I don't know if I will be able to shake the stare he gives in this film from my mind. This monologue Koteas delivers about the suffering of mankind gave me absolute chills and I believe in a way it sums up a lot of what Tran is trying to say along with the obvious symbolism revolving around the crucifixion. Sure, the film could probably have been more streamlined in it's approach but I found that the beautiful cinematography and odd pacing seemed to create this perfect sort of dream-scape for the story. This film reached me deeply on both an emotional and intellectual level and I loved it. 9/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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