Movie

Wild River

1960 · 110 min

A patient, sorrowful drama of stubborn dignity against progress, with quiet romance and a slow-building ache that lingers.

Tagline: The Wild Language... The Wild Hungers... The Wild Furies!
Overview: A young bureaucrat for the Tennessee Valley Authority goes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of a stubborn octogenarian from her home on an island in the river, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation.

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How it feels

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Tone: melancholicstrength 3 of 3
earneststrength 3 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
romanticstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: family
class
power
trauma
love
Places: countryside
small town
home
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: None
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	3
Horror	1
Humour	2
Realism	9
Romance	6
Tension	6
Darkness	6
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	8

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Details

Genres: drama, romance
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Written by: Paul Osborn
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Salmi, Jay C. Flippen, James Westerfield, Bruce Dern, Barbara Loden
Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks
Runtime: 110 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English

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Wild River

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