On the whole, the casual narrative technique of its adapters is more interesting than either its story content or its characters. And its picturesque background... is more interesting still.

| Aug 16, 2022

The River is indeed sumptuously photographed. But its rendering, a visually evocative portrayal of the circle of life as evidenced by the experiences of three young women, is often too simplistic in other regards.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 28, 2020

It emphasizes Technicolor's vibrancy, but it's also notable for the way it accentuates muted tones, like the clay bricks and the sand by the riverbanks.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 23, 2015

a sumptuous visual feast that foregoes narrative drive for the simple beauties of lived existence on the banks of the Ganges River

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 22, 2015

a delicate tapestry of images that evoke a different way of life, of thinking, and of relating to the world

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 25, 2010

Sumptuous visual treat.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 20, 2008

It's a beautifully observed rite-of-passage and culture-clash story.

| Oct 24, 2007

Jean Renoir's 1951 masterpiece, his first film in color.

| Oct 24, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Here India seemed to be portrayed as if in a 1950s travelogue.

| Oct 4, 2006

Renoir'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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 29, 2006

...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.

| Apr 7, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 25, 2006

As beautiful as it is moving.

| Feb 9, 2006

Renoir fashioned what might be his sweetest movie about family and one of the post-war years' most serene cinematic statements.

Full Review | Aug 2, 2005

One of the greatest motion pictures ever made.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 29, 2005

The River is a sumptuous visual feast, yet another example ... of Renoir's amazing ability at using his camera as a paintbrush.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 28, 2005

So beautifully innocent and innocently beautiful that its peaceful wisdom transcends reality.

| Jul 25, 2005

Jean Renoir has preserved the spirit of Mother India as well as any western filmmaker

| Original Score: B | Jul 19, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 12, 2005