The River (1951)

Three adolescent girls growing up in Bengal, India, learn their lessons in life after falling for an older American soldier.

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Rumer Godden (novel), Rumer Godden (screenplay)

Stars:

Patricia Walters, Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

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	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Harriet, now an adult, narrates the story of her coming of age growing up as a British national and a daughter of a jute press manager in the Bengal region of India, they living in the big house on the banks of one of the holy rivers. At the time, she is the eldest of six siblings - five girls and one boy - with another on the way and with she being significantly older the rest of her siblings. As such, she spends much time with an honorary member of their family, a late teen - not quite an adult - named Valerie, also a British national and the daughter of the jute press owner. Another friend, who recently arrived home from her western schooling, is Melanie, the biracial daughter of British national Mr. John and his then deceased Hindu wife. Both Mr. John and Melanie realize her difficult position, straddling both the Hindi and western cultures. Their small world is shaken up with the arrival of Captain John, Mr. John's cousin and an American ex-military man who has one prosthetic leg...

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Plot Keywords:

india | courage | insect | weeping | horse drawn carriage | 

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Taglines:

A Motion Picture Masterpiece

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France UK India USA

Language:

English Bengali

Release Date:

19 December 1951 (France)

Also Known As:

The River

Filming Locations:

Ganges River, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oriental International Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was instrumental in launching the careers of Satyajit Ray - an assistant on the film - and Subrata Mitra, who went on to become Ray's cinematographer.

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Goofs

Harriet's arms change position when lighting Captain John's cigarette on the boat.

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Quotes

Narration: The day ends. The end begins.

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Connections

References The River (1938)

User Reviews

Spellbinding, magnificent

A really glorious, spellbinding movie. Filmed in Bengal, India, on the Ganges, it captures the essence of India, the timeless quality of life on the Ganges, without being patronizing.

This is a coming of age movie about three teenage girls, two British and one Anglo-Indian, and how their lives are affected by the arrival of a one-legged American war veteran. It's very easy to fall into sentimentality in a movie like this, but Renoir avoids this obvious pitfall. Though I have to say, I found this film very moving.

It helps that this movie is filmed in Technicolor, and is one of the best uses of Technicolor of that era.

Some of the performers were amateurs, including the actor who played the veteran and some of the children, but overall the performances are outstanding. A fine, low-key performance by Esmond Knight. This was the only film for Patricia Walters, who played Harriet, and Thomas Breen, the war veteran who played Captain Jack, never made any other movies. Watch for Arthur Shields, the brilliant Irish actor, as father of Nan.