River
What makes a good nature documentary? I think there are a multitude of answers to that question, but I do think a common denominator of the great ones is to make nature seem wonderous, and make us consider our relationship with it while watching the film. “River” does just that, with images captured by directors Jennifer Peedom and Joseph Nizeti, narration by Willem Dafoe and a soundtrack that includes great classical works that offer us a chance to experience both a bird’s eye view, and a water’s surface, perspective on rivers. It’s beautiful, it’s haunting, and it’s a film that flies by in its 75 minutes.
Without creating a false narrative, a movie like “River” can only do so much with its premise of showing us rivers of the world. So in Dafoe’s voiceover, what this film does is basically show us life of the river, how it shapes land it flows through, how it goes to the ocean, how it changes shape, and how- when it comes down as rain- the cycle of life for river water begins again. We see, and hear, how dams and pollution impacts rivers, and the various other ways humanity has impacted the natural flow of rivers.
Voiceover can always be a difficult thing to use successfully, in part because, if you pick the wrong voice, it can come off as pretentious and cloying. Dafoe’s voice was an ideal choice; the tenor of it gives him the gravitas of a James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman, and his natural personality that make the words engaging. And how his narration works with the soundtrack is terrific, giving us something mournful and lovely, yet also engaging and unlike many other documentaries of its ilk. “River” doesn’t have a lot going on as a film, but it shows that- as a natural part of Earth- rivers still have an important part to play. We just need to respect them, and look after them.
