- The growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.
- Harriet, now an adult, narrates the story of her coming of age, growing up as a British national and as a daughter of a jute press manager in the Bengal region of India, they living in the big house on the banks of one of the holy rivers. At the time, she is the eldest of six siblings - five girls and one boy - with another one on the way and with her being significantly older than the rest of her siblings. As such, she spends much time with an honorary member of their family, a late teen - not quite an adult - named Valerie, also a British national and the daughter of the jute press owner. Another friend, who recently arrived home from her western schooling, is Melanie, the biracial daughter of British national Mr. John and his deceased Hindu wife. Both Mr. John and Melanie realize her difficult position, straddling both the Hindi and western cultures. Their small world is shaken up with the arrival of Captain John, Mr. John's cousin and an American ex-military man who has one prosthetic leg, the result of his time in the war. He is a somewhat sullen man who is running away from anything that reminds him of his time before his physical disability. Regardless, he has an effect on all three of Harriet, Valerie and Melanie in different ways, which nonetheless tests their friendships. In combination with other things that happen, this may provide Harriet with a bigger view of life in her coming of age.—Huggo
- Director Jean Renoir's entrancing first color feature-shot entirely on location in India-is a visual tour de force. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the film eloquently contrasts the growing pains of three young women with the immutability of the Bengal river around which their daily lives unfold. Enriched by Renoir's subtle understanding and appreciation for India and its people, The River gracefully explores the fragile connections between transitory emotions and everlasting creation.
- Three teenage girls are living in Bengal (India) near a big river : Harriet is the oldest child of a big family of English settlers. Valerie is the unique daughter of an American industrialist. Melanie has an American father and an Indian mother. One day, a man arrives. He will be the first love of the three girls.—Yepok
- In Bengal, India, the teenager, Harriet, oldest daughter of a British family and her father is the manager of a jute factory. Her mother is pregnant and she has four younger sisters and one little brother. They have a quiet and comfortable life living in a big house nearby the Ganges River. Valerie is the teenage daughter the owner of the jute factory where Harriet's father works and she spends most of her time with Harriet. Melanie is the British-Indian daughter of Harriet's neighbor Mr. John who has just returned from an education in England. When the young American Captain, who lost one of his legs during the war comes to Bengal to visit his cousin Mr. John, the three teenagers fall in love with him.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Spunky prepubescent poet Harriet, the oldest girl in an English family of five children, tells the story of her first love along the banks of a holy river in India in the years following the end of World War I. Her father is in charge of the local jute press and her mother and nurse Nan attend to the children, keeping them amused with games and toys at the "Big House." When Capt. John, a veteran who lost a leg in the war, comes to visit his cousin and Harriet's neighbor, Mr. John, all the children, including Mr. John's teenage daughter Melanie and their wealthy eighteen-year-old neighbor Valerie, are excited by his presence. During the Diwali Festival of lights celebration at the Big House, Valerie piques the captain's interest by flirting with him throughout the evening.
Later Mr. John, a widower and English expatriate, speaks with Melanie, his only child by his Indian wife. Melanie has just returned home from her western school and is expected to marry wealthy local Anil, her intended fiance since childhood. Melanie questions her English heritage and, though she wants to embrace Indian traditions, refuses to see Anil. Mr. John tells her that Anil can provide for her better than he can, but Melanie does not want more. Meanwhile the proud captain, having come to India to escape the pity he receives because of his handicap, meanders the banks of the river and contemplates his choices in life as a man with only one leg. When he takes a rest, Harriet, who has been surreptitiously following him through the bazaar, shows him her secret book of poems. The captain is impressed, but Valerie soon distracts him with a confession of her fondness for him and Harriet storms off.
On the Big House grounds, Bogey, Harriet's only brother, and his best friend Kanu climb the garden wall to chase a snake they have spotted in the roots of a banyan, a sacred tree where Hindu women leave milk to pray for the blessing of a son. Meanwhile Mr. John tells his daughter that by being a child of both Indian and Western heritage, he fears she will be unable to assimilate into either culture. Smiling, the philosophical Melanie replies that someday she will find her place.
Harriet, filled with words about the magic of the river and its people, decides to win the captain's heart through her poetry. One evening she tells her version of the story of Krishna to the captain and Valerie: A peasant girl is in love with a local boy but has to follow tradition and wed her father's choice instead. On the wedding day she discovers that her father chose the same man and through her joyous Bharata Natyam dancing and love for the bridegroom, she transforms him into Krishna and herself into the Lady Rada. As Harriet closes the story, Valerie grabs her secret book and reads romantic passages about the captain aloud, humiliating Harriet. Valerie then engages the captain in a game of toss but he falls and, refusing help from everyone, decides he must leave India. Later Harriet catches Bogey again seducing a snake with his flute, but distraught about the captain's imminent departure, does not stop the boy.
At Mr. John's, when the captain insists that he is a normal man and can go anywhere, Melanie asks, "Where will you find a country of one-legged men?" He assumes Melanie dislikes him, but she explains that it is not him she dislikes but herself and runs to the grove. Though Melanie hopes that the captain will find her, it is Valerie who catches him first and the two kiss while Melanie and Harriet watch. Valerie begins to cry in the captain's arms, lamenting that he has made all of the children's romantic dreams real and killed their childhood. Harriet runs to her mother, who explains how Harriet's body is changing for womanhood, but Harriet is inconsolable. Later Harriet remembers Bogey and finds him by the garden wall, dead from a cobra bite. After the adults attend the funeral service, Mr. John makes a toast to children, thankful that one escaped before taboos and wars destroyed his innocence.
That night at dinner in the Big House, Harriet is horrified when everyone acts if nothing has happened and admits that she knew about the cobra. At twilight she runs away in a riverboat, but by nightfall the captain has found her at the fisherman's campfires down river. He soothes her, professing that with each person you meet you either die a little bit or are born again. As they get up to leave, the captain asks Harriet for help up, reminding her that he has only one leg. Many months later, among the ruckus of the Hindu spring festival, letters from the captain arrive for Harriet, Valerie and Melanie. However, all are distracted from the faint memory of the romance when they hear a cry from the other room and Harriet's mother gives birth to a baby girl.
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