The River (1951)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,926
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Movie Info
The River must be seen in its original Technicolor; it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine anyone fully enjoying this wonderful film while watching a black-and-white TV print. Adapted by director Jean Renoir and Rumer Godden from Godden's own novel, the film is set on the banks of West Bengal. The central character is teenaged British girl Harriet (Patricia Walters), the offspring of a jute-mill owner (Esmond Knight) and his wife (Nora Swinburne). Harriet and her best friend Valerie
Sep 10, 1959 Limited
Mar 1, 2005
Criterion Collection
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Nora Swinburne
The Mother -
Esmond Knight
The Father -
Arthur Shields
Mr. John -
Thomas E. Breen
Capt. John -
Patricia Walters
Harriet -
Suprova Mukerjee
Nan -
Adrienne Corri
Valerie -
Radha
Melanie -
Richard Foster
Bogey -
Penelope Wilkinson
Elizabeth -
Jane Harris
Muffie -
Jennifer Harris
Mouse -
Cecelia Wood
Victoria -
Ram Singh
Sajjan Singh -
Nimai Barik
Kanu -
Triak Jetley
Anil -
June Hillman
Narrator
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All Critics (22) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (4) | DVD (9)
Jean Renoir's 1951 masterpiece, his first film in color.
Top CriticWithal, 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.
As beautiful as it is moving.
Renoir fashioned what might be his sweetest movie about family and one of the post-war years' most serene cinematic statements.
a delicate tapestry of images that evoke a different way of life, of thinking, and of relating to the world
Sumptuous visual treat.
It's a beautifully observed rite-of-passage and culture-clash story.
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.
Here India seemed to be portrayed as if in a 1950s travelogue.
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.
...the plot is only the bread on which Renoir layers his meditations on life's cyclical flow from birth to death and the changes in between.
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.
One of the greatest motion pictures ever made.
The River is a sumptuous visual feast, yet another example ... of Renoir's amazing ability at using his camera as a paintbrush.
So beautifully innocent and innocently beautiful that its peaceful wisdom transcends reality.
Jean Renoir has preserved the spirit of Mother India as well as any western filmmaker
Audience Reviews for The River
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]"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. [/font]
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Der Strom (DE)
- The River (1951) (CA)
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