The last years of the British Raj. Teenage girl Harriet lives with her four sisters, one brother and parents on a British mansion near the Ganges river. Her father runs a jute plantation, using local Bengalis as labor force. One day, Cpt. John, a World War II veteran with a prosthetic leg, moves to live with them and Harriet is infatuated by him. The British go to a bazaar and observe a religious festival. John is also interested with Melanie, an English-Hindi woman, but ultimately kisses Valerie, angering Harriet. When Harriet's brother is found dead after a cobra bite, there is a funeral, and Harriet goes on a boat to drift away in the river, but is found and comforted by John. She returns back to her home. Her mother gives birth to a new baby, a girl.
Jean Renoir's "The River" enjoys a high reputation in certain circles—most notably, Roger Ebert included it in his list of Great Movies, while filmmaker Scorsese included it in his list of 12 favorite films—yet its actual quality is still a little bit below this hype. It is an elegant, polished, unassuming little film with some pretty images and aesthetic use of colors, yet the whole first half seems more like a travel photobook of India than some tight story with a purpose. The first half establishes just a cozy, relaxed mood which is deliberately vague, yet the second half where the story finally sets in is definitely superior. The attempted romance between teenage protagonist Harriet and Cpt. John is subtly built and wonderfully restrained, even though not much happens. In one of the best moments, a wide shot shows Harriet running across the fence and heading towards the garden in the background, after John, as the narrator goes: "Suddenly we were running away from childhood, rushing towards love". After John kisses Valerie, and disappoints both Harriet and Melanie who were watching from a distance, the narrator concludes: "It was my first kiss. But received by another." There are echoes of the cycle of nature, where some events just naturally have to happen on and on, from funeral to birth, from love to disappointment, and as such the characters just accept them, yet the movie becomes too passive itself, since there is too much 'empty walk' and the first half slows it down. Peculiarly, no Indian character is given a proper character development, they are all just one-dimensional extras, overshadowed by the British characters. However, one feels a certain innocent nostalgia for these kind of introverted, intimate, gentle films, as one senses the end of the British colonial rule in India also signals the end of Harriet's childhood and teenage years, as more a complicated future awaits.
Grade:++
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