Taking sides: Jean Renoir's The River vs Dustin Hoffman conman thriller Confidence

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

My girlfriend and I want to see a movie tonight and we've whittled it down to these two. Will the Hoffman thriller be too silly? Will the Jean Renoir arthouse movie be too boring? You have an hour to let me know.

― Paris moviegoer, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

The Hoffmann thriller is better than it ought to be, but still purty ropey. But it will give you more to talk about afterwards.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

'Art-house'? 'The River' is not easy to get hold of; I haven't seen it but I know JR's '30s work well, and you shd definitely go. 'Confidence' will be on TV in a couple years.
I can't stand the 'art-house = boring' idea, it's totally null.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw "the river" last week. it was really interesting, partly as an attempt to mix a kind of ethnographic (albeit intensely Orientalist) portrait of India with a few individual stories, notably the sexual coming of age of several girls in a colonial family. It's miraculous on some levels and pretty clumsy on others. It's interesting partly to see where it does and doesn't chime with the Merchant-Ivory-type vehicles that are its direct descendant.

Anyway it's not boring by any means and is probably worth anyone's time.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

P.S. Whether the other film gives you "more to talk about afterwards" depends on what you like to talk about. "The River" certainly gave me a lot to think about, even if I didn't love it.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, ultimately we saw neither of those movies, although I think I've had my interest piqued in The River by a comment above. We actually ended up seeing American Splendor, a sort of half fiction/half documentary about the comic writer Harvey Pekar. I wasn't expecting much but actually it was really good, funny and moving. I'd definitely recommend this.

― Paris moviegoer, Thursday, 9 October 2003 07:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I actually walked out of Confidence, such was its shittiness.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 9 October 2003 09:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Rachel Weisz though...

― Enrique (Enrique), Thursday, 9 October 2003 09:53 (twenty-one years ago)

she is lovely, but that film doesn't interest me at all.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 9 October 2003 13:16 (twenty-one years ago)

nineteen years pass...

Three screenings of The River at the BFI in early May!

― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 20 April 2023 07:38 (two years ago)

BFI released a DVD of it about 10 years ago, since upgraded to a gorgeous looking Blu-Ray, so it's no longer a hard film to see. Is it part of a Renoir season? Would rather see The Crime of Monsieur Lange, which is now a much harder film to source on physical media.

― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 20 April 2023 07:55 (two years ago)

It's just part of their ongoing Big Screen Classics screenings.

― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 20 April 2023 08:05 (two years ago)

Oh cool, I imagine it's the same print source as the BFI disc - wonder if they hold a screenable film print still.

― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 20 April 2023 08:10 (two years ago)

The River really stands out from their other Screen Classics screenings currently going...canon will always be his 30s films, so it's good to see a 50s Renoir getting some screenings, even if there is a DVD of that.

― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 20 April 2023 08:47 (two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.