The Rain People

Unsure of herself, months pregnant and feeling trapped, Natalie Ravenna leaves her sleeping husband a note and drives away from her Long Island home one rainy morning to find herself. Natalie is the heroine of Francis Ford Coppola's intensely moving drama, The Rain People. Ahead of its time from both its filmmaking and feminist points of view, the film took Coppola and his eight-vehicle crew through eighteen states, lending this poignant tale a realistic, rootless tone. On board were three actors who brought a searing truth to the project: Shirley Knight as Natalie, and future stars of The Godfather James Caan and Robert Duvall as the lonely men who bring tenderness and tragedy Natalie's way. What they and Coppola brought our way is a movie that remains powerful, touching and relevant decades after its production.

• drama