What to expect
Renoir combines melodrama with an alertness to water, landscape, and physical environment that anticipates his later interest in people moving through social worlds.
How to ease in
The story is straightforward, so give attention to location and weather. The river is not merely scenery; it changes what safety and danger feel like.
Heads-up
An orphaned girl enters the life of a travelling showman and a new rural community in Jean Renoir’s early feature.
Early films by famous directors invite us to search for the future. I prefer watching this landscape in the present tense, where water and bodies have not yet become evidence for a career.
Open the note ↓
Early films by famous directors invite us to search for the future. I prefer watching this landscape in the present tense, where water and bodies have not yet become evidence for a career.
— Momo
Credits & versions
Version map
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