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IMDb > The River (1951)

The River (1951) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   1,333 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jean Renoir
Writers:
Rumer Godden (novel)
Rumer Godden (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The River on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 December 1951 (France) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
Beauty...Mystery...Delightful Humor...
Plot:
Three adolescent girls growing up in Bengal, India, learn their lessons in life after falling for an older American soldier. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
A great film more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Nora Swinburne ... The Mother
Esmond Knight ... The Father
Arthur Shields ... Mr. John
Suprova Mukerjee ... Nan
Thomas E. Breen ... Capt. John
Patricia Walters ... Harriet
Radha ... Melanie
Adrienne Corri ... Valerie
June Hillman ... Narration (voice)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Le fleuve (France)
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Runtime:
99 min
Country:
France | India | USA
Language:
English | Bengali
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Filming Locations:
West Bengal, India

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Shot in Technicolor, it was necessary to use brighter lights than usual. This also required spending five months in the lab, painting up colors that weren't rich enough. more
Goofs:
Continuity: The position of Captain John's hand changes when he is on the ground (at 00:59:11). more
Quotes:
Harriet: Who's important to you, Captain John?
Capt. John: Everybody.
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Movie Connections:
References The River (1938) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
26 out of 29 people found the following comment useful:-
A great film, 13 October 2004
Author: ethandre from New York, New York

It's difficult to argue with Gabridl's remarks about the film - and I'm sure Renoir would have pleaded guilty as charged. Of not making a civics lesson. So, if that's what you want out of art, then this is not the film for you. At all. You will learn nothing of Indian politics, the "exoticism" will drive you mad, and you'd do better to go back and re-read Said's "Orientalism," as Gabridl suggests.

Renoir went to India, and made a film from the perspective of an entranced outsider looking in, creating his own, personalized world - not India, but Renoir's world, where everything is transitory, including beauty and death, and where every sight and sound becomes that much more precious.

I am glad that we have come so far since I've been a kid, when so many ideas and prejudices carried over from the colonial era were still floating through the air, and it's true that no one except that most naive among us would make a film like THE RIVER today. But Renoir was alive in 1950, not now, and he made his film for his time, and that time attaches itself to the film, just like it does to every artwork. I doubt that even Gabridl would suggest that it was the work of a craven exploiter of the masses, and that its "faults" are not the faults of a corrupt man, but of a generous and compassionate one. It's one of the most generous films I know of.

Finally, I would add that while this is a film made by a westerner for other westerners, it was certainly inspirational to Satyajit Ray, who worked as Renoir's assistant.

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Why I am the only one who doesn't like this... sidekick86
Sadly, this is a terrible movie and you all know it . gtstanton
This is so unusual! chicunique
Capt. John's letters devaughn_05
Melanie amukhop
What is it about this film? cinephile_12
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