In 1968 George Lucas helmed a making-of documentary for director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1969 film The Rain People. The doc is titled Filmmaker: a Diary by George Lucas and it actually served as the first title copyrighted under their production compaie’s American Zoetrope and Lucasfilm.
Lucas followed The Rain People‘s production and documented the grinding process of the realities of filmmaking and the stress that it put on the cast and crew. It sees Coppolla making his first attempts to fight back against the film industry. It’s absolutely a must-watch for movie buffs and aspiring filmmakers as some of the insight it offers is still relevant today.
In The Rain People: “Upon learning that she’s pregnant, housewife Natalie Ravenna (Shirley Knight) leaves her husband and embarks on a road trip of self-discovery. On her odyssey across America, Natalie picks up troubled hitchhiker Jimmie Kilgannon (James Caan), a college football player whose life was shattered when he sustained brain damage. But, as she later learns when she meets a lovelorn police officer named Gordon (Robert Duvall), trying to help these lost souls isn’t without its dangers.”
Check out the doc below and I also include a bonus behind-the-scenes video as well. I’m happy to see that Coppolla is directing a new film with Megalopolis. I wish Lucas would come out of retirement to direct a new movie.
