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A River Runs Through It (film)
Encyclopedia
A River Runs Through It is an Academy Award winning 1992
American
film
directed by Robert Redford
and starring Brad Pitt
, Craig Sheffer
, Tom Skerritt
, Brenda Blethyn
, and Emily Lloyd
. It is a period drama based on Norman Maclean
's semi-autobiographical
novella
of the same name (1976).
Set in and around the city of Missoula
in western Montana
, the story follows two sons of a Presbyterian minister—one studious and the other rebellious—as they come of age
in the time period between World War I
and the Great Depression
.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
in 1993. It was also nominated for two other Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Music; Original Score. The film grossed $43,440,294 in US domestic returns.
under the watchful eye of their father, a Presbyterian minister. Their mornings are spent in school and religious study, while their afternoons are devoted to fly fishing
in the nearby Blackfoot River
. At home, however, the family's stoic
emotions hint that trouble is to come. Norman goes to the east coast for college and lives there for six years, without returning home until then. In the meantime, Paul gets a job as a prolific journalist and makes a name for himself back home. The film is about Norman's return home and his and Paul's summer together.
As adults, Paul is a rebellious journalist and his brother, Norman, a level-headed, grounded teacher. Norman matures and channels his rebellion through his writing while dating Jessie Burns, while his reckless brother Paul turns to gambling and liquor. The film chronicles their intertwining and often conflicting lives, focusing on Norman's point of view, as they grow up in the shadow of their minister father. A great deal of the film surrounds the men's love of fly fishing for trout in Montana's rivers, and their shared experiences through it while growing up.
, Great Falls
and on the nearby upper Yellowstone
, Gallatin
and Boulder River
s. The waterfall shown is Granite Falls in Wyoming
. The church scenes were filmed in the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Livingston, Montana
.
Released on October 9, 1992, A River Runs Through It grossed $43,440,294 in US domestic returns. The film won praise from major film critics like Caryn James of The New York Times, Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times, and Hal Hinson of The Washington Post.
Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a score of 83% based on 40 reviews.
s, but did not win.
newspaper article based on recollections of people who knew the Macleans noted a number of chronological and educational details about Paul Maclean's adult life that differ somewhat from their portrayal in the film and novella.
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
and starring Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Craig Sheffer
Craig Sheffer
Craig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
, Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
, Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, and Emily Lloyd
Emily Lloyd
-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
. It is a period drama based on Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
's semi-autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
of the same name (1976).
Set in and around the city of Missoula
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
in western Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, the story follows two sons of a Presbyterian minister—one studious and the other rebellious—as they come of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
in the time period between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
in 1993. It was also nominated for two other Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Music; Original Score. The film grossed $43,440,294 in US domestic returns.
Plot
The film tells the autobiographical story about two young men, Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt), growing up in 1920s Missoula, MontanaMissoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
under the watchful eye of their father, a Presbyterian minister. Their mornings are spent in school and religious study, while their afternoons are devoted to fly fishing
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
in the nearby Blackfoot River
Blackfoot River (Montana)
The Blackfoot River, sometimes called the Big Blackfoot River to distinguish it from the Little Blackfoot River, is a snow-fed and spring-fed river in western Montana. The Blackfoot River begins in Lewis and Clark County at the Continental Divide, 10 miles northeast of the town of Lincoln...
. At home, however, the family's stoic
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
emotions hint that trouble is to come. Norman goes to the east coast for college and lives there for six years, without returning home until then. In the meantime, Paul gets a job as a prolific journalist and makes a name for himself back home. The film is about Norman's return home and his and Paul's summer together.
As adults, Paul is a rebellious journalist and his brother, Norman, a level-headed, grounded teacher. Norman matures and channels his rebellion through his writing while dating Jessie Burns, while his reckless brother Paul turns to gambling and liquor. The film chronicles their intertwining and often conflicting lives, focusing on Norman's point of view, as they grow up in the shadow of their minister father. A great deal of the film surrounds the men's love of fly fishing for trout in Montana's rivers, and their shared experiences through it while growing up.
Main cast
- Craig ShefferCraig ShefferCraig Eric Sheffer is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading role as Norman Maclean in the film A River Runs Through It and of Keith Scott on the television series One Tree Hill.-Early life:...
as Norman MacleanNorman MacleanNorman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:... - Brad PittBrad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Paul Maclean - Tom SkerrittTom SkerrittThomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
as Reverend Maclean - Brenda BlethynBrenda BlethynBrenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Mrs. Maclean - Emily LloydEmily Lloyd-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
as Jessie Burns - Edie McClurgEdie McClurgEdie McClurg is an American character actress. She is known for her perky North Central dialect , common to persons from Middle America.-Career:...
as Mrs. Burns - Stephen Shellen as Neal Burns
- Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
as Young Norman - Vann Gravage as Young Paul
- Nicole BurdetteNicole BurdetteNicole Burdette is a playwright and actress. She wrote the play Chelsea Walls, which she adapted to film in 2001. She is a co-founder of the Naked Angels . She also gave the company their name....
as Mabel - Susan Traylor as Rawhide
- Michael CudlitzMichael CudlitzMichael Cudlitz is an American actor. He can be seen in the TNT drama Southland, starring as John Cooper, and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman.-Life and career:...
as Chub - Rob Cox as Conroy
- Buck SimmondsBuck SimmondsBuck Simmonds is an American actor. He starred in the 1992 film A River Runs Through It alongside Brad Pitt who he later lived with. Simmonds also starred in the 1998 Scrapple movie...
as Humph - Fred Oakland as Mr. Burns
- David Creamer as Ken Burns
- John K. Peccer as Paul Hans (uncredited/cameo/extra)
Location
Although both the book and film are set in Missoula and on the Blackfoot River, the filming was done in BozemanBozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, Great Falls
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
and on the nearby upper Yellowstone
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
, Gallatin
Gallatin River
The Gallatin River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 120 mi , in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana...
and Boulder River
Boulder River (south central Montana)
The Boulder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 60 mi long, in south central Montana in the United States. It is one of two rivers named the Boulder River in Montana....
s. The waterfall shown is Granite Falls in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. The church scenes were filmed in the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Livingston, Montana
Livingston, Montana
-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...
.
Critical reviews
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 83% based on 40 reviews.
Awards
A River Runs Through It was nominated for three Academy Awards for 1992, including Best Cinematography (Philippe Rousselot); Best Music, Original Score (Mark Isham); and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Richard Friedenberg). Rousselot won for Best Cinematography. Robert Redford was also nominated for Best Director - Motion Picture at the Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s, but did not win.
Artistic license
A Helena, MontanaHelena, Montana
Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...
newspaper article based on recollections of people who knew the Macleans noted a number of chronological and educational details about Paul Maclean's adult life that differ somewhat from their portrayal in the film and novella.