Work and university meant that the Queen and I watched sometimes different movies, sometimes the same ones on different dates (Koza!). This movie was me and our lovely 6451 who made good use of my couch and appreciated it beautifully! <3
The River
USA 1951, Jean Renoir, 99′
Insecure, poetic teenage Harriet lives with her parents, too many sisters and a little brother in a comfortable estate near the Ganges, somewhere in Bengal. Her neighbour invites his cousin Captain John, an American war veteran, to live with him on his plantation. Soon she, her slightly older best friend and the neighbour’s half-Indian daughter compete fo the handsome young man’s attention.
This movie is a thing of beauty! India itself is ridiculously colourful and Renoir really wanted to show this, what better use could there be for Technicolor? While there are no special, dramatic filming techniques, all shots are professionally crafted and the colour palette while not exaggerated like in some other Technicolor movies of the time, is rich and vivid and really helps convey the exotic beauty of India. The Indian Tourism Board must have been proud! The colourful saris and temples draw you in, together with the lush nature, but the sensible grading never makes the colours overbearing or pop too much.
The English families in this movies are an interesting bunch. Usually you would dismiss the story as colonialist fantasy and certainly there are elements like that in the movie. However they seem more like modern day expats: The children mingle with the local kids, the house celebrates a weird mix of Christianity and Hinduism, the indian nanny is basically family and of course the neighbour is a proper indophile with his half-Indian daughter. In those respects they are even better integrated than current-day expats. The story itself is a little dated with the main motive stressing how a handsome, charismatic man like Captain John is every woman’s secret goal in life. All in all however you can ignore this weird philosophy and just appreciate the movie as a beautiful, colourful ode to affluent life in rural India.
Sounds like this is the kind of movie whose visuals totally make it worthwhile to see in theaters. I am glad you guys went! (And I wish I did too hahaha.)