Three teenage girls are living in Bengali (India) near a big river: Harriet is the oldest child of a big family of English settlers. Valerie is the unique daughter of an American industrialist. Melanie has an American father and an Indian mother. One day, a man arrives. He will be the first love of the three girls.
Withal, the illustrations of the country are beautiful beyond words-the serenity of the river, the power of boatmen sweeping its stream, the bazaars full of color and movement, [and] the dazzling brilliance of festivals.
Gloriously photographed and providing perceptive insights into contrasting cultures, this melodrama flows with the majesty of the Ganges. But its attitudes to race and gender now sit as uncomfortably as some of the performances.
Renoir's location work in India and his semi-documentary excursions look great, juxtaposed as they are with his bold fantasy sequences evoking India's spiritual life.
In 2004 the original three-strip Technicolor camera negatives received a major restoration. The result is an image that's perhaps more beautiful than Renoir could have imagined.
Martin Scorcese considers this and Michael Powell's Red Shoes to be the most beautifully photographed Technicolor films in history. It's hard to disagree. The craft and photography in this film belongs on the list with The Searchers, Il Conformista, and In the Mood for Love as the greatest achievments of color
photography
"The River", directed by Jean Renoir, takes place in India and concerns itself mostly with a British family living there. The father is a manager of a factory. The mother is especially adept at giving birth. She already has five daughters and a son, and another child is on the way. The eldest daughter, Harriet, is
a wannabe writer and poet. Into this mix, is Captain John, an American who is visiting his cousin next door. He is recovering from injuries both psychological and physical(having lost a leg) during the war. His appearance has an emotional effect on the local young ladies. "The River" is a beautiful film, shot on location in India in Technicolor. Occasionally, it does tend to veer off the narrative and become something of a travelogue. It did seem very old fashioned but not stereotypical in the least. Overall, it is a bittersweet coming of age tale.
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