IMDb plot summary: The growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.
Directed by Jean Renoir. Starring Patricia Walters, Nora Swinburne, and Esmond Knight.
The River tells the story of an English girl growing up in India. We follow her trying to find her place in the world, battling with jealousy, falling in love, and experiencing loss. Our main character here is such a teenager and yet so very relatable, alternately trying to be a grown-up and trying to escape to the simpler times of childhood. Many of the actors were nonprofessionals, which lends the film an authentic feel, and even when line readings are a little stilted they come across more as stilted characters than inexperienced actors. The cinematography is really beautiful, conveying a sense of childhood nostalgia that's so intertwined with love for the country in which they grew up. The dialogue and the melodrama of the story are all slightly heightened in a way that really brings out the autobiographical nature of the story -- we're hearing this story filtered through years of fond memories and found meaning. I haven't loved director Jean Renoir's better known films but this one struck a chord in me and made me much more interested in exploring his work more deeply.
How it entered my Flickchart:
The River > Ripley's Game
The River < Kuroneko
The River > Space Sweepers
The River > The Artist
The River > 1917
The River < Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
The River > The Color Purple
The River < The Woodsman
The River < Re-Animator
The River > Wonder Boys
The River < Billy Liar
Final spot: #988 out of 3631, or 73%.
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