Main Cast: Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields, Thomas E. Breen, Suprova Mukerjee, Patricia Walters
Release Year: 1951
Country: IN/US/FR
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
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 (Adrienne Corri) harbor a crush for a dashing visitor named Captain John (Thomas E. Breen), who in turn is preoccupied with the hauntingly beautiful Indian girl Melanie (Radha Shri Ram). This languid state of affairs is shaken up by unexpected tragedy involving Harriet's impulsive brother (Richard Foster). The real star of the proceedings is the titular river, exquisitely color-photographed by Claude Renoir (Jean's nephew) and his Indian assistant Ramanda Sen Gupta. The apotheosis of Jean Renoir's lifelong fascination with India, The River served as a launching pad for the directorial career of Satyajit Ray, who met and befriended Renoir during the shooting of this film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Unlike other movies that use exotic locales to enhance their subjects, Jean Renoir's The River, shot on location in Bengal, India, doesn't feel like a distant, detached travelogue. Renoir's vision of India is wonderfully poetic and delicately observational, very much in the same rhythm as its surroundings. Renoir was one of the most graceful directors of his era, and the subtlety and depth of his vision is in full flourish in The River. The Eden-like setting complements a tale which captures both the tranquility and the pain of adolescence. This was the director's first color film, impressively photographed by his nephew, Claude Renoir. Although hampered occasionally by inexperienced performances, The River marked Renoir's return to the more humanistic films of his youth. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Satyajit Ray - First Assistant Director, Jean Renoir - Director, George Gale - Editor, Eugène Lourié - Production Designer, Claude Renoir - Cinematographer, Ramananda Sen Gupta - Cinematographer, Kenneth McEldownery - Producer, Bansi Chandragupta - Set Designer, Jean Renoir - Screenwriter, Rumer Godden - Screenwriter, Rumer Godden - Book Author
