Os Caminhos do Rio

I was really surprised when I came across this movie on cable TV a couple of years ago. The story is a wonderful example of how our land keeps changing and the fight to hang on to it and use it according to need. Conflicting desires of "the people" and the Government. The actors were fantastic in their portrayals and I absolutely fell in love with Tantoo Cardinal-she is so believable and was such a character in this movie, as was Rip Torn. The story was also a love story about the land, the past, and between the 2 main characters. I have tried to buy this film and have been unable to locate it-but I would sure would love to own it.

After we watched it, my wife turned to me and asked, 'Why did they think anyone would want to see this movie?' I had to agree, although we were both absorbed by it as it played out. As I watched it, I felt like a person who sat on a hilltop, looking into a valley. He can see two locomotives speeding toward each other at 50 miles per hour, on the same track. He can do nothing to stop the inevitable collision, but he is powerless to look away from it. As a Southerner, I know something about lost causes. This movie is about a lost cause.

The central character, Noel Lord (Rip Torn) is a tough, mean, old logger, who has a lifetime lease on a piece of wetland property in Kingdom County Vermont in 1927. In place of a left hand, he has a wicked looking metal hook, which he uses to great advantage in a powerful scene toward the end of the movie. Electrification is coming to Kingdom County. The utility company has bought all of the leases except for Lord's, and he refuses to consider the company's offer of $2,000 to surrender his lease. Later, the offer is raised to $5,000. Lord still refuses to release his rights. Electrification is inevitable. A huge dam will soon be built, and within a year, Lord's property will be under 50 or 60 feet of water. Lord appears to have a much better offer in mind, not of money, but of a trade of land. The utility readily agrees to lease him the land he wants, and also to move his cabin to the new site. Lord has secret plans for his property that he has told no one about.

Lord lives with Bangor (Tantoo Cardinal), a Native American housekeeper who appears to be half crazy. By the end of the movie, we discover that she has a greater grip on reality than Lord does. She and Lord have a longstanding relationship, but it is clearly platonic now. Her accent is so thick that it is difficult to understand her. She calls Lord 'Meester' throughout the movie. Lord's wife has died, and is buried on the property. The only tender moment in the movie is a scene where Lord is kneeling over his wife's grave, talking to her, telling her that he is going to have to leave. He kisses his hand and pats the earth in front of the headstone.

Michael J. Fox, wearing a cheesy mustache, plays a humorless utility company executive who is not above using force to get what he wants. Treat Williams plays a throwaway role as an itinerant fight promoter, whose champions are always defeated by Lord. The scenes of 1927 rural Vermont are authentic, and the acting is outstanding. Torn and Cardinal are superb. This is Jay Craven's first movie as a director, but he directed as if he had done it countless times. If you like well done period drama and good acting, this movie may be for you. If you like happy endings and beautiful people, stay away.

Director Jay Craven's adaptation of Howard Frank Mosher's 'Where the rivers flow north' is one of the finer transitions from literature to the screen. Craven is an admirer of Mosher's work -- he also directed 'A stranger in the Kingdom'.

The cast is superb -- especially Rip Torn and Tantoo Cardinal. Torn offers what could be the finest role of his career -- Noel Lord, the fiercely independent former lumberjack who is at the center of this story. Tantoo Cardinal's portrayal of Lord's live-in housekeeper/common-law wife is dead-on as well. I'm both amazed and disappointed that neither of them were nominated for Oscars when this film was released. Performances of this calibre should be acknowledged. The only character that's a little hard to swallow for me is the power company executive played by Michael J. Fox. He just looks too much like a kid in this role. I guess there's a curse attached to youthful looks, no matter how much people want them.

Craven has done a nice job here in bringing the character of early 20th century Vermont to the screen -- locations, angles, sets, all combine to transport the viewer to the time and place of the story. Cinematographer Paul Ryan was exceptional. The score by the Horseflies is also first rate -- it fits the mood and scenery perfectly.

And the story itself...? One of the most compelling portrayals of the fiercely independent American pioneer spirit ever -- a trait that is on the wane in this day and age. When it appears in modern times, the person is often looked upon with suspicion and disdain. In Noel Lord, we have a character whom we can admire for his values, and even for his stubbornness.

This is not a stodgy 'period piece', but a vibrant look at an era that is gone, and a type of character that has all but vanished. These are not gold-plated heroes, but real people, with both strengths and weaknesses at play within them. struggling in a harsh environment to live their lives and at the same time be at peace with the world in which they live. Like today, there are those who wield power that would have it otherwise.

Jay Craven's criminally ignored film is a sober breath of fresh air in the generally narcissistic and derivative world of independent film. First off, the photography is pure aesthetic pleasure, capturing all of the gloomy beauty of Northern New England in late autumn (Cinematographer Paul Ryan did 2nd Unit on Malick's Days of Heaven). Second, the performances are uniformly excellent - Rip Torn's Noel Lourdes is irascibly charming and Tantoo Cardinal's Bangor is at once sensitive and exuberant, to say nothing of a fine supporting cast. Overall though, it is a tribute to the narrative strength of the film that the story maintains a strong and lively pace while still unfolding in its own time, and the film comes to a conclusion, natural and genuine, that nevertheless does not seem expected. This is one of the rare cells of dignity in the independent film world, a film that explores a small piece of the intersection between humans and history.

Kingdom County, Vermont, 1927. Noel Lord (Rip Torn) lives with his Indian mate, Bangor (Tantoo Cardinal) in the area where a large dam is to be built; Noel, however, is not willing to give up on his land, and he'll have to fight the dam company in order to prevent the County from any possible destruction.

"Where the Rivers Flow North" is a gripping, contemplative story powered by the memorable performances of Rip Torn (recently seen in the small but juicy role of Louis XV in Sofia Coppola's underrated "Marie Antoinette") and Tantoo Cardinal ("Dances With Wolves", "Smoke Signals"). Director Jay Craven (who also co-wrote the script with Don Bredes, based on Howard Frank Mosher's novel) and cinematographer Paul Ryan crafted this powerful story with unique, contemplative pace/visuals, which remind me of Terrence Malick's and John Huston's best moments. It's an underrated independent period piece of the first (electric) half of the 90's, usually regarded as the rise of Quentin Tarantino's burlesque ("Pulp Fiction" is a masterpiece indeed, but the man suffers from Orson Welles' Syndrome), Todd Solondz's disturbing suburbia, Danny Boyle's dark vision of the UK (let's not mention that "Beach" flick with DiCaprio, though)... Jay Craven should be more regarded on the lists of great indie filmmakers as well. He's been leading a respectful, discreet career and it's always a pleasure to see a constant talent like his.

My vote: 8/10.