It's a beautifully observed rite-of-passage and culture-clash story.
Comment
10/24/07
The River (1951)
86
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:18
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.4/10
Theatrical Release:17-02-2006
Synopsis: Described by Renoir as, "an Occidental meditation on the Orient," the film adopts the languid rhythms of the East, as it tells the story of three adolescent girls coming of age in West Bengal after... [More]
Starring: Patricia Walters, Nora Swinburne, Arthur Shields, Radha
Director: Jean Renoir
Reviews for The River
Gloriously photographed and providing perceptive insights into contrasting cultures, this melodrama flows with the majesty of the Ganges. But its attitudes to race and gender now sit as uncomfortably as some of the performances.
12/30/06
Top CriticHere India seemed to be portrayed as if in a 1950s travelogue.
10/04/06
Top CriticRenoir's location work in India and his semi-documentary excursions look great, juxtaposed as they are with his bold fantasy sequences evoking India's spiritual life.
09/29/06
Top CriticAs beautiful as it is moving.
02/09/06
Top CriticSome of the politics may not have aged well but its rich colours and passions burn as bright as the day it was made.
05/24/03
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/26/09
Top CriticSumptuous visual treat.
08/20/08
Jean Renoir's 1951 masterpiece, his first film in color.
10/24/07
a delicate tapestry of images that evoke a different way of life, of thinking, and of relating to the world
09/20/06
...the plot is only the bread on which Renoir layers his meditations on life's cyclical flow from birth to death and the changes in between.
04/07/06
Withal, the illustrations of the country are beautiful beyond words—the serenity of the river, the power of boatmen sweeping its stream, the bazaars full of color and movement, [and] the dazzling brilliance of festivals.
03/25/06
Top CriticRenoir fashioned what might be his sweetest movie about family and one of the post-war years' most serene cinematic statements.
08/02/05
One of the greatest motion pictures ever made.
07/29/05
The River is a sumptuous visual feast, yet another example ... of Renoir's amazing ability at using his camera as a paintbrush.
07/28/05
So beautifully innocent and innocently beautiful that its peaceful wisdom transcends reality.
07/25/05
Jean Renoir has preserved the spirit of Mother India as well as any western filmmaker
07/19/05
No review available.
06/12/05
The film's scenario is merely a loose framework for emphasizing its setting through various festivals, bazaars, and imaginative legends.
03/21/05
While I'll submit that the girls (unknowns, all of them) act well and can genuinely create some emotional energy in the movie, it's the story of The River that's an absolute dud.
03/01/05
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