Rain shower

Understand the story, the theme, express your sensitivity and exercise your critical thinking.

Before watching the film, explain to the children that the title of the film in English “Rain shower” could be translated as “rain shower”; the original Japanese title means passing rain.

This short film does not tell a story; it is a contemplative film whose object, like Japanese poems haikus, is to capture a place, a moment.

“On the stones

On the dust

Autumn rain »

Haiku by Kyoshi Takahama (1874-1959)

Ask the children to list what we see in the film:

In order of appearance, an orange road marker on the ground (21 s), windows and a sign written in Japanese (21 s), houses (19 s) but the subtitle tells us that it is a shopping street. When the title appears (29 s), we discover the entire street, deserted. 3 black and yellow striped road barriers (34 s), a black cat (38 s), a drop of water falls on the cat's head (45 s), rain (50 s), under a roof, shelter for the cat (1 min 2 s), streaming raindrops (1 min 5 s), a sign on the ground (1 min 14 s), a potted plant (1 min 32 s), small white papers moving in the wind (1 min 50 s), a drawing of scissors (2 min), a sign that says “closed” (2 min 5 s), another window, the rain stops and the sun appears (2 min 17 s), a large building (3 min), the reflection of the sun on the building (3 min 6 s), the sun reflecting on the building comes on the cat (3 min 10 s), paper signs on which is written in Japanese “permanent closure” in English “The final day, closedown", again a road marker but fallen on the ground (3 min 25), a tree on the ground (3 min 35), an open door (3 min 43), a falling Ginkgo Biloba leaf (Note that the Ginkgo Biloba is a tree very present in Japan; yellow leaves are the sign of autumn), an excavator (4 min 21).

Explain that the film depicts the last days of an old shopping street, with the large building at the end and the excavator symbolizing the rebuilding of a new neighborhood.