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 3 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 Tripp	...	Narrator (voice) (as June Hillman)

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:

Beauty...Mystery...Delightful Humor...

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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

Rumer Godden based the character of Bogey on her younger sister, Nancy. Nancy's son Richard R. Foster played the part of Bogey in the film

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Goofs

In the narration at the start of the film Harriet states, "We were five children, four girls and my brother, Bogey." This is incorrect. There are actually five girls and a total of six children in the family; Harriet, Elizabeth, Muffie, Mouse, Victoria and Bogey.

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Quotes

Nan: I saw a spider this morning. That's lucky!

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Connections

Referenced in The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

User Reviews

A unique achievement

There is something special about this movie. In fact, to say there is something special does not tell much, and it could be equally applied to hundreds of films which are much less special than this. So let's start again. I had never seen a film like "The River" before. Thanks to the Spanish TV program "Qué grande es el cine" I discovered this piece of Art created by a major artist: Renoir. Some of my other favourite movies are similar in some aspects to others. And so, "North by Northwest" resembles other thrillers with Cary Grant; "A Touch of Evil" is a moral fable and also a nightmare which reminds a bit of "The Night of the Hunter", and so on. But "The River" reminds me of nothing I have seen on a screen. It has to do with ethics and with life. It has to do with balance, with understanding human nature. I think this film has everything which can be told in a film. Absolutely everything. I believe this film reflects an attitude towards life and towards art. So I got it finally! This film is if anything an attitude. Once you have seen, you feel better, you know more about life, your perspective has changed. It is a ray of light. I should be compulsory in High School and everywhere.