The River
1951 Directed by Jean Renoir
Synopsis
Beauty...Mystery...Delightful Humor...
Members of an English settlement cope with the exotic lure of life in India.
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Popular reviews
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Jean Renoir's film "The River" is a difficult piece to write about. It's a film about exploration. The exploration of a culture, of the geographic layout of a place, and the self exploration undertaken by a group of people in India.
The film invites you to partake in whatever discoveries Renoir seems interested in. Equal weight is given to the visual splendor produced by holiday fireworks as the melodrama that emerges between three young women vying for love.
It's difficult to analyze something like the script or the performances (which range from brilliant to lackluster) because all of these things, including the lasting impression of the film, are derived from the living world that fills the film. Despite it's lush…
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Well, let's be honest, some of the acting is not the best in this, unfortunately.
Still, I really enjoyed how though there was something of a plot, it was very thin. The movie was really just a slice of life. A portrait of a family and the people who love them as they live in this interesting place.
Has a bit less of Renoir's famously roving camera though he is always a visual master. He is clearly relishing shooting in Technicolor in these beautiful locations.
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A film that absolutely loves the culture that it's story takes place in. There is a sense of wonder conveyed from simply the documentation of the mundane, and that is the very reason to watch this film.
The story flows effortlessly, weaving together the stories of three young girls all confused by growing up. The performances are wonderful, eventhough, as Martin Scorsese points out in the bonus features, most of the actors are not actors.
The River is a film that is rooted in it's time period, though at the same time in transcends the bonds of time, as it's subject matter is pertinent to anyone, anywhere, in anytime period.
Recent reviews
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Beautiful, luxuriously shot. It’s also boring and racist. Who cares about the melodramatic soap opera of a bunch of sour-puss white folks in India? I don’t. Raspberries.
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Jean Renoir's film "The River" is a difficult piece to write about. It's a film about exploration. The exploration of a culture, of the geographic layout of a place, and the self exploration undertaken by a group of people in India.
The film invites you to partake in whatever discoveries Renoir seems interested in. Equal weight is given to the visual splendor produced by holiday fireworks as the melodrama that emerges between three young women vying for love.
It's difficult to analyze something like the script or the performances (which range from brilliant to lackluster) because all of these things, including the lasting impression of the film, are derived from the living world that fills the film. Despite it's lush…
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Absolutely refreshing. A great film that simply regards life and doesn't try to fit it in a conventional plot. Beautifully shot as well.
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Stunningly beautiful Technicolor.
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The takeaway from this film is a bit fortune cookieish- 'And life goes on, just like a river.' It is a beautiful film to look at and there are some nice moments, I just felt 'the message' is trite.
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Viewed on DVD Criterion Collection
A very beautiful picture...
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It's interesting to consider why in American cinema, there is so much demand for Westerns that they became a genre in its own right, while the historically contemporary, and equally brutal, colonialisation of Asia, Africa and South America does not have such a prominent place in European cinema. Partially this must be simply down to the fact that the American film industry had ready access to locations for Westerns, while there is nowhere in Europe anything like the places they colonised (although, ironically, they did have locations for American westerns in the Spanish desert). But more than that, I think the Western is very important to American national identity, whereas, for the most part, colonialism is something Europe would prefer…
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The humanist triumph of maturing.
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It's very painterly, and Renoir's approach to the blending of cultures is much more interesting than I'd originally expected, but the sound is muddy and the whole thing feels like a few too many vignettes. I don't know if I buy that "One of the most beautiful looking movies ever" crap that Scorsese is always spouting, but it is impressive. What I'd really like to see is the Criterion Edition. And in one sitting not six. Grade pending. I guess.