bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron Howes) (11/19/84)
- - - mod.movies - - - - - - Volume 1, Issue 8 - - -
"The River" -- reviewed by Peter Reiher
[Note: "The River" will not be released until early December. This
review is based on a preview showing of the final cut.]
"The River" is the last of this year's unusual cycle of farm
movies and, in my opinion, the best. Curiously, it is also the most
"Hollywood" of the three. "Places in the Heart" was originally an
attempt to display a tapestry of life in a rural Texas town in the
1930s, and never entirely lost that character. "Country" is downbeat
and overtly political. "The River", on the other hand, could very
easily have been made at any time in Hollywood's history. It tells a
rather conventional story, in a rather conventional way. It even has
that Hollywood staple, a central role cast in a manner that outwardly
seems to have more to do with box office than appropriateness. Despite
its familiarity, though, I found "The River" to be much more satisfying
than the other two films. Its pleasures are the pleasures of fine
craftsmanship; if these pleasures are not equal to those of great art,
they are probably the next best thing.
"The River" centers around the struggles of a farming family in
Tennessee. They have the misfortune to own a farm on the banks of a
river which is given to flooding. When the floods get too bad, their
crops are washed away, along with anything else not anchored down. The
film starts with just such a disaster. A rain storm which at first
seems pleasantly blustery becomes a torrential downpour. The river
rises, and the family's efforts to dam it come to naught. They must
flee with the belongings they can carry, to return after the flood
abates so they can salvage what the river hasn't destroyed.
Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson play the husband and wife. Yes,
that's right, Mel Gibson: Mad Max - The Road Warrior, more recently
seen as Mr. Christian in "The Bounty". Mel Gibson, Australia's biggest
star. What, you may ask, is an Australian doing in Tennessee? Well,
in this case, feeling right at home. Gibson's accent and mannerisms
are flawless. Had I never seen him before, I think I would have
assumed that he was an American, and probably a Southern, actor. (Of
course, Gibson really is an American citizen; his father took the
family to Australia over ten years ago as he had moral objections to
his sons being forced to kill Vietnamese.) Not only is Gibson's accent
flawless, but his performance is superb. He makes us see every emotion
felt by his decent but stubborn character as he moves from one trouble
to the next. This performance confirms that Gibson is not just another
pretty face or merely suitable for action pictures. Mel Gibson is a
movie star and actor in the old fashioned mode, of a type that hasn't
been seen for many years. Comparisons to the likes of Clark Gable and
William Holden may be a bit premature, but would be well to keep in
mind.
Sissy Spacek matches him. Of course, she is rural South by birth
and upbringing, but there is much more to her performance than
authenticity. She molds an extremely believable picture of a strong,
modern woman in an old-fashioned setting. Spacek's character is
required to bring in a corn crop all by herself, and she really looks
like she can do it, and bake bread, and take care of her children, and
rescue herself from peril if she has to, and be there for her man when
he needs her. Some people find Spacek to be plain, or even ugly. I've
always thought that she radiates an inner beauty based on strength of
character. Her role in "The River" confirms my impression. Mark
Rydell, the director of "The River", has spoken of her as "carrying the
truth like a torch", and she uses it to illuminate this film.
As Rydell is also fond of saying, movies don't make themselves
and they aren't accidents. Rydell is not the most inspired of American
directors, but he is talented, and he usually takes only the
assignments he truly cares about (though I wonder how anyone could have
cared about "Harry and Walter Go To New York"). His concern shows in
"The River". He gives his films a lot of thought, too, and is one of
the few directors I've heard speak who can really explain what he
wanted in his films; and, given a chance, he will do so, almost to the
point of garrulity. Rydell was intimately involved in all aspects of
the production, so most of what is good in "The River", and there is
much, reflects on him in part. Rydell has also handled his actual
direction duties very well. Particularly impressive are the opening
scenes and a sequence in which a confused deer wanders into a steel
mill.
Beyond the performances, which are fine in the supporting roles as
well as in the leads, the most obvious virtue of "The River" is the
photography. Vilmos Zsigmond has produced the most beautiful
cinematography I have seen this year. There are ravishing shots of the
river in many moods, as well as well conceived montages of the beauties
and perils of rain. Zsigmond is able to make a broken down steel mill
look good without losing track of its grittiness and squalor. Much of
"The River" was filmed in the golden light of afternoon, but even
interiors are perfectly lit. To top it off, Zsigmond and Rydell had
the good fortune (for them, bad for everyone else involved) to be
visiting Alabama at the time of some major floods; they came back with
impressive helicopter shots of the devastation of a real flood.
Which brings us to one of the other major behind-the-scenes heros
of "The River": Charles Rosen the production designer. As in most big
budget films made in Hollywood nowadays, the little details of sets and
costumes are nicely handled. Rosen's great triumph is the flood
sequences. To make them, the film company reclaimed a patch of swamp
land on the banks of a river, built a complete farm there, installed
massive flood control equipment, and gained the cooperation of both
federal and state governments to get temporary control over the amount
of water flowing down the river. Then they chained down the cameras,
tied the actors to tethers, crossed their fingers, opened a huge steel
floodgate, and let hundreds of thousands of gallons of water flood
their set. Then they closed the floodgate, pumped out the water,
cleaned up the set, and did it again. Feats of generalship like this,
or Richard Attenborough's staging of Gandhi's funeral (which involved
literally hundreds of thousands of extras), or D.W. Griffith's Babylon
sequences from "Intolerance" never fail to make me respect a director
more, particularly when they are effectively filmed. "The River's"
flood sequences are extremely effective.
Lastly, the script deserves some praise. It's very well
constructed. Every incident fits neatly into the framework of the
overall story. We understand the purpose of every scene, and the
movie's themes are nicely merged. I would mention the screenwriter's
name, but unfortunately I don't remember it, and, since "The River"
will not be released for nearly a month yet, I can't look it up in
ads. Whatever his name is, he did a better job than William Whitliff
did on "Country", though his assignment was similar. He was sent out
to the Midwest to write a script about the plight of farmers. What he
came up with is quite creditable.
In all, I strongly recommend "The River". It's an honest,
well-intentioned, well-executed story of the continuing hard times of
America's farmers. The ending is upbeat, yet not foolishly
optimistic. Revelations, either artistic or social, are not to be
expected, but you can count on solid, respectable storytelling and
all of the virtues of a first class Hollywood film.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher