Blu-ray, DVD Release: The River (1951)

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 21, 2015
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion


The River, the entrancing first color feature from Jean Renoir (The Rules of the Game)—shot entirely on location in India—is a visual tour de force.

Take me to The River

Take me to The River

Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the 1951 drama-romance eloquently contrasts the growing pains of three young women with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.

Enriched by Renoir’s subtle understanding of and appreciation for India and its people, The River gracefully explores the fragile connections between transitory emotions and steadfast creation.

Criterion’s Blu-ray and DVD editions of the classic movie contain the following features:

  • High-definition digital transfer from the 2004 Film Foundation restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
    • Archival introduction to the film by director Jean Renoir
    • Around the River, a 60-minute 2008 documentary by Arnaud Mandagaran about the making of the film
    • Interview from 2004 with Martin Scorsese
    • Audio interview from 2000 with producer Ken McEldowney
    • New visual essay by film writer Paul Ryan, featuring rare behind-the-scenes stills
    • Trailer
    • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Ian Christie and original production notes by Renoir

 

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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.