Rain Man

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Movie
German title Rain Man
Original title Rain Man
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1988
length 133 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Barry Levinson
script Barry Morrow ,
Ronald Bass
production Mark Johnson
music Hans Zimmer
camera John Seale
cut Stu Linder
occupation
synchronization

Rain Man an American is Drama of Barry Levinson from the year 1988 . The main characters are the completely dissimilar brothers Charlie and Raymond Babbitt, who only get to know each other as adults. Despite their differences (autism - narcissism), they develop a deep relationship with each other on a mutually forced drive through the USA.

action

Charlie Babbitt, a slick and self-loving car dealer from California , has problems with the environmental requirements when importing Italian sports cars, which he hides from his customers in order to buy time. When he is on his way to a weekend with his girlfriend Susanna a little later, he learns of the death of his father, Sanford Babbitt. Charlie is initially emotionless, but immediately sets off with Susanna to Cincinnati , Ohio , where the funeral takes place. From the conversation between the two it becomes clear that Susanna would like to have a deeper relationship with him, but that he shows no sincere feelings and also keeps an emotional distance from her.

In Cincinnati, Charlie is urged by Susanna to tell her about his father and he tells her the end of the relationship: When, at the age of 16, he took his father's car, a 1949 Buick Roadmaster Series 70 Cabriolet , despite being prohibited from doing so To do a few laps for his friends after passing their final exams, his father reported the car as stolen and left Charlie in the police cell for two days. Charlie then left his parents' house and broke off all contact. The memories let him thaw a little emotionally for a moment, so that he also tells Susanna about Rain Man , a fantasy figure he had made up as a little boy: When he needed help, Rain Man would come and sing for him.

At the opening of the will, Charlie learns that he will inherit the award-winning rose bushes and the Buick, while the financial fortune of over $ 3 million will go to an unknown beneficiary. Charlie sees himself cheated out of the money by his father. He finds out that the money goes to Wallbrook , a dormitory for the mentally handicapped, which he goes to immediately. The head, Dr. Bruner, shows understanding for Charlie's anger, but refuses to give him any information. But then Charlie comes across an unknown resident who is familiar not only with the Buick, but also with details from Charlie's family. Dr. Bruner confirms that this man is Charlie's older brother Raymond. Charlie finds out for the first time that he has a brother, but since Raymond has now apparently inherited the three million dollars to which Charlie also believes he is entitled, he spontaneously takes Raymond on his return trip to California.

Raymond lives in Wallbrook because he is autistic with an island talent . Although his brain is highly functional, he cannot develop deep relationships with people, cannot carry out the simplest everyday activities without help and cannot tolerate any deviation from his usual daily routine. Therefore Charlie, who is already annoyed, has to make sure that Raymond's everyday life continues as usual during the trip. When Susanna finds out that Charlie wants half of the three million dollars and uses his brother as leverage, she leaves him indignant with the accusation that he only uses everyone for his own purposes. Although this is apparently true, Charlie continues to see himself in the right.

Since Raymond refuses to travel by plane - he knows all flight accidents with flight numbers and the number of fatalities by heart - also considers highways to be too dangerous and on top of that refuses to leave the room when it rains, the journey takes a long time. why Charlie must try to save his bankrupt auto business over the phone. That Raymond doesn't show the slightest understanding of Charlie's situation brings Charlie to the edge of despair.

In the course of the journey, Charlie also noticed his brother's amazing abilities. On the first evening he mockingly gives Raymond a phone book when he asks for books; the next day it turns out that Raymond now has the first third of the phone book in his head. Shortly afterwards, a pack of toothpicks falls and Raymond sees at a glance that there are 246 toothpicks on the floor. Later, a doctor makes it clear to Charlie that Raymond can solve complex arithmetic problems instantly in his head, but is overwhelmed with everyday questions.

One evening at the motel, Raymond shows Charlie a photo of her father taking his two sons together and jokingly calls himself “Rain Man”. That's when Charlie realizes that the Rain Man wasn't a fantasy figure at all. As a three-year-old, he gave the then 20-year-old Raymond that name. Raymond eventually had to go to the home because her parents feared he might do something to little Charlie unintentionally. For the first time, Charlie feels a genuine bond with his brother.

Raymond's cognitive abilities give Charlie the idea of making a lot of money by counting cards in Las Vegas . In fact, they gain so much from this trick that Charlie can pay off his debts. The casino confronts him and as a precaution bans him from entering the house, although he cannot be proven to have fraud. Susanna appears at the hotel - after Charlie's bankruptcy, she is now unemployed. How sensitive Charlie now treats Raymond and respects his needs makes a deep impression on her.

Charlie's attorney has found a loophole in the official guardianship regime for Raymond and is taking legal action. With Dr. Bruner is set up an appointment with an independent psychologist, whose report should decide whether Raymond should stay with his brother or return to Wallbrook. On the eve of the meeting, Dr. Bruner Charlie upfront $ 250,000 if he lets his brother live unmolested in Wallbrook. Charlie does not take the money because his brother already means too much to him.

During the appointment with the psychologist, it becomes clear that Raymond is not in a position to make a decision about his future at all - he wants to stay with Charlie and return to Wallbrook. More to free Raymond from the increasingly embarrassing situation, Charlie admits that he cannot take care of his brother permanently and that Wallbrook is better for him. He brings him together with Dr. Bruner to the train station and says goodbye to him with the promise to visit him regularly in Wallbrook.

synchronization

The German dubbing was based on a dialogue book by Horst Balzer and his dialogue director on behalf of the Berlin dubbing firm Wenzel Lüdecke .

role actor German speaker
Raymond Babbitt Dustin Hoffman Joachim Tennstedt
Charlie Babbitt Tom Cruise Stephan Schwartz
Susanna Valeria Golino Katja Nottke
Dr. Bruner Gerald R. Molen Norbert Langer
Lenny Ralph Seymour Christian Brückner
Administrator Jack Murdock Friedrich Schoenfelder
Waitress Sally Dibbs Bonnie Hunt Christel Merian
Nurse Vern Michael D. Roberts Detlef Bierstedt
Mother in the farmer's house Beth Grant Sonja German
iris Lucinda Jenney Evelyn Marron
Dr. Marston Barry Levinson Jürgen Thormann
croupier Nick Mazzola Helmut Krauss
Doctor in small town Kim Robillard Lothar Blumhagen
Nurse Donna Dickson Constanze Harpen
secretary Loeretta Wendt Jolivette
Man on the street Earl Roat Manfred Petersen
Man in the waiting room Byron P. Cavnar Heinz Palm
Mr. Kelso Ray Baker HH Müller
Pit Boss # 1 Isadore Figler Wolf Rüdiger Reutermann
priest Donald E. Jones Eric Vaessen

Trivia

  • For this story, screenwriter Barry Morrow was inspired by Savant Kim Peek . However, this was not autistic.
  • In uncomfortable situations, Raymond constantly repeats the sketch Who's on First? Played by Abbott and Costello .
  • In the Simpsons episode Owned by the Devil ($ pringfield) , Homer becomes the dealer in Mr. Burns' casino. Two men - Charlie and Raymond - come to his table and clear away. When Raymond hits his head with his hands in a fit (as in the film), Homer does the same.
  • At the airport, Raymond claims that Qantas Airways has not had any crashes. The statement is wrong, because on July 16, 1951 a propeller plane crashed; seven people died.
  • Originally, Steven Spielberg intended for directing. However, he refused, and so Levinson was awarded the contract and ultimately an Oscar.
  • Dustin Hoffman is said to have prepared for the role of Raymond over a year.
  • This film was the big breakthrough for the film composer Hans Zimmer .
  • The music piece Iko, Iko from the Belle Stars , which accompanies the opening credits, can also be heard during the climbing scene in Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). In both films, Tom Cruise was the lead actor and Hans Zimmer was responsible for the music.
  • The same song can be heard at the beginning of the Hangover casino scene , in which Alan also wins large sums in blackjack.
  • Director Barry Levinson himself played the reviewer at the end of the film.
  • The pocket TV used in the film is a SONY Watchman FD-40.

Awards

Dustin Hoffman at the 1989 Academy Awards

Rain Man was in 1989 for eight Oscars nominated and got him in the categories Best Film , Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman), Best Director and Best Original Screenplay .

Further film awards :

Reviews

"While the story is rather lengthy and unfocused, the figure of the handicapped arouses human interest and sympathy thanks to the sensitive and astounding depiction of Dustin Hoffman in tragic and comic situations."

- Lexicon of international film

“Levinson places the camera, Cruise gives the cues, and Dustin Hoffman plays. 'Rain Man' is irresistible because, like all great Hollywood films, it is about Hollywood itself, about the autistic loneliness of the star. "

- Die Zeit , February 24, 1989

DVD release

  • Rain Man . "Award-winning films" series. MGM Home Entertainment / Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 2006

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Rain Man . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2004 (PDF; test number: 61 537 V / DVD).
  2. ↑ Literally he says Dr. Bruner as an explanation: "It would have been nice to have known him earlier."
  3. ^ Rain Man. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on August 11, 2018 .
  4. ^ Rain Man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed January 14, 2014 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. ^ The time of February 24, 1989

literature

  • Joanne Berry: Rain Man (1988). In: Steven Jay Schneider (Ed.): 1001 films. Edition Olms, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-283-00497-8 , p. 774
  • Leonore Fleischer: Rain Man. A novel based on the script by Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow . German by Alfred Dunkel. Heyne, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-453-03595-X .

Web links