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May 16, 2005
The River on DVD, 5/15/05
Jean Renoir directed the screenplay he wrote with Rumer Godden based on her novel. A red-headed English girl named Harriet is growing up on the Ganges when she has her first crush on an aimless American ex-soldier. She has some competition for his attention from Valerie, her best friend, and the half-Indian girl next door. There's about 20 minutes of exposition where we learn about the jute trade and the customs of the sub-continent. There's even a dance sequence. The love story feels like it was written in the 1800s, but India looks amazing here. The documentary sequences on the Ganges look amazing in Technicolor and feel so real. Renoir must have figured out someway of transporting his weighty cameras on boats so he could document what he could see. The final third of the movie involves a tragedy that feels right, but the film ends with a disappointing sequence with the three girls spouting such cliched platitudes about growing up. Ugh.
Posted by deaconmf at May 16, 2005 11:43 AM
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