22 February 2015

Blu-ray Review - Wild River (1960)


Genre:
Drama
Distributor:
Eureka
Rating: PG
Director:
Elia Kazan
Cast:
Montgomery Clift, Jo Van Fleet, Lee Remick
Release: 23rd February 2015

Elia Kazan directed Wild River in 1960 near the end of his extraordinary run of films throughout the 50s and 60s. The film starred Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, both actors who would be immortalised in songs by The Clash and The Go-Betweens respectively. Eureka Entertainment has now added the film to it’s Masters of Cinema range in this dual-format edition.

Clift plays Chuck Glover who is sent to Garthville, Tennessee. He works for the Tennessee Valley Authority, who have built a new dam, but first they need to clear the land so they can flood it. Everyone else has been bought off, apart from one old lady, Ella Garth (Jo Van Fleet) who refuses to be bought off and move. Chuck is there to convince her to leave. He meets her granddaughter Carol Baldwin (Lee Remick) and they start a relationship, however he falls into some trouble with the locals after paying some black men the same as their white counterparts to work on the river project.

Kazan was originally an actor so he always managed get strong performances from his cast. Clift is more restrained than his usual method self, and due to this, it’s one of his more impressive performances. Remick, who was still a relative newcomer to the silver screen, gives one of her most memorable performances. The real stand out however, is Jo Van Fleet as the stubborn Ella who shockingly wasn't nominated for an Oscar - she won one for her previous collaboration with Kazan East of Eden however. Bruce Dern also makes his uncredited screen debut.

The aesthetic of Kazan’s work is normally quite stark in look, so the film is a pleasant surprise with the expressive use of Cinemascope. It was also a project Kazan has been working on for a very long time, since he worked in the same area during the 1930s. Overall, it’s another strong, performance based melodrama, from some of the masters.

In the original press releases it didn't list any bonus features for the disc. This, however, is pleasantly, surprisingly, incorrect; there is commentary by some critics, an image gallery, and theatrical trailer. It also includes a 40-page booklet with a new essay by Adrian Martin, rare archival imagery and more. The blu-ray transfer is also absolutely gorgeous.

★★★★

Ian Schultz

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