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A River Runs Through It (Deluxe Edition)
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| List Price: | $19.94 |
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Product Description
Academy Award®-winner Robert Redford (Best Director, Ordinary People, 1980) captures the majesty of the Montana wilderness and the strength of the American family in this acclaimed adaptation of Norman Maclean's classic memoir. Craig Sheffer stars as the young Norman, and Brad Pitt stars as his brother Paul, an irresistible daredevil driven to challenge the world. Growing up, both boys rebel against their stern minister father. While Norman channels his rebellion into writing, Paul descends a slippery path to self-destruction. Co-starring Tom Skerritt as the Reverend Maclean and Emily Lloyd as wild-hearted Jessie Burns.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #16942 in DVD
- Released on: 2005-11-29
- Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
- Formats: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Subtitled in: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Dubbed in: French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Number of discs: 1
- Running time: 123 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A lyrical and nostalgic film from director Robert Redford (Quiz Show, Ordinary People), based on the popular autobiographical novel by Norman MacLean, A River Runs Through It shows the best that modern filmmaking has to offer. The film chronicles two brothers coming of age in early-20th-century Missoula, Montana, under the stern tutelage of their minister father, played by Tom Skerritt (Top Gun). Their father instills in them a love of fly fishing, which for one brother (Brad Pitt) becomes a lifelong passion even as he sets out to become a newspaperman and struggles with his addiction to gambling. The other brother, Norman (Craig Sheffer), dreams of exploring the world outside of Missoula as he falls in love with a local girl (Emily Lloyd) who also dreams of broader horizons. Soon one brother must discover the true meaning of family loyalty when the other finds himself in deeper trouble than ever before. Redford, who also narrates the film, does a masterful job in re-creating the period and in drawing out affecting performances from his young cast. An Oscar winner for Philippe Rousselot's luminescent cinematography, this is a poignant and special film. --Robert Lane
From The New Yorker
Robert Redford's movie of Norman Maclean's lyrical novella about fly-fishing and family loyalty in Montana is serene, lulling, tranquil-no, it's dead dull. Maclean's story traces the history of its narrator's relationship with his self-destructive kid brother, Paul, through detailed descriptions of their fishing trips; the narrative is driven by the tension between what it's telling us and what it's leaving out. Disastrously, Redford and screenwriter Richard Friedenberg open up the story. They show us too much of what's happening offstage-that is, away from the river-and thus allow the real source of the story's emotions to dissipate. With a delicately balanced narrative like this one, more is inevitably less. (And the extra scenes cooked up by the filmmakers are banal by any standard.) The movie is ravishingly shot (by Philippe Rousselot), but it's lifeless, because it lacks the vital spirit of Maclean's writing: the precision and grace that he seems to have learned, in part, from fly-fishing. Redford and Friedenberg try to catch the story's elusive meanings by lobbing grenades into the river and blowing everything in it out into the light of day. With Craig Sheffer as the narrator, Norman, and Brad Pitt (who looks like a young Redford and gives a lightweight performance) as Paul. The supporting cast includes Emily Lloyd, Tom Sherritt, Stephen Shellen, Nicole Burdette, Brenda Blethyn, and Susan Traylor. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Customer Reviews
a beautifully moving, timeless piece
a poignant and innocent portrayl of thoughtful American life in the western and rugged boundless beauty of Montana... the stillness between lines speaks volumes of the quiet language of the heart... you can hear the meadows glisten, the river rush and dance, and the spirited youthful boys run, laugh, and cry... the world of this film takes us back to when literature and quiet nights with loved ones were revered, where families fished outdoors and dined together by sunset in the tidy kitchen... when men held their lovely wives hands with tenderness, and young men courted their admirations with hand-written authentic words on paper...
the story could take place during any generation though, as it is a universal story, about the impermanence of life, of love and heartbreak, of man's connection with the natural world, the intrinsic inner-battles of the unknown, and the discontent beneath the surface of the perpetually unsatisfied, however much they are adored... the cycles of coming of age, of brothers, of parents, of loves, of it all swirling through the heart and head in one moments time, as one pulls back the reel and brings up the shining fish from the sparkling cool waters...
...i am haunted by Maclean's words.
A nice, quiet movie
A River Runs Through It has received a lot of deserved acclaim, but it's not for the impatient. Fly fishing is a solitary and deliberate sport. So is this movie.
The casting and performances do justice to a fine book. Although I think Robert Redford directed the movie with intelligence and exceptional craftsmanship, I could have done without his narration. He should have trusted his actors and the audience more.
The Shopkeeper
Movie Worthy of the Book
Redford has attempted to present Norman Maclean's family story A River Runs through It and Other Stories, Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition on film, and has achieved phenomenal success. I ordered the video at the suggestion of a respected friend, but with a negative bias against the willingness and/or ability of any Hollywood producer to adeqately film this novella, itself perhaps the epitome of the storyteller's art.
I suggest that anyone interested in this modern classic to read the book first, slowly, savoring Maclean's wonderful, yet economical, descriptive style, then to relax with the video while the book is fresh in the memory. Redford's translation of this story from the language of the written word to the language of the movie is as faithful and accurate as can be done.
Every translation is, of course, also an interpretation, and Robert Redford has accurately interpreted Norman Maclain's family story so that the video production enhances the enjoyment and appreciation of the original work, the book.
