{ "id": "epnc5kr0as", "slug": "the-river-1997-film", "title": "The River (1997 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s", "label": "Drama films 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s", "label": "Drama films late 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998", "label": "Released 1995 to 1998", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The River (河流, He liu) is Tsai Ming-liang's 1997 Taiwanese drama, his third feature, about Hsiao-Kang's incurable neck pain after floating in the polluted Tanshui River; it won the Berlin Silver Bear Jury Award.", "snippet": "The River (河流, He liu) is Tsai Ming-liang's 1997 Taiwanese drama, his third feature, about Hsiao-Kang's incurable neck pain after floating in the polluted Tanshui River; it won the Berlin Silver Bear Jury Award.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998", "markdown": "# The River (1997 film)\n\n**The River** (河流; *He liu*) is a 1997 Taiwanese drama film directed by [Tsai Ming-liang](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsai-ming-liang), his third feature, in which a young man develops a mysterious, incurable neck pain after floating as a corpse in a polluted river for a film shoot[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the). The film won the Jury Award (Silver Bear) and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1997 [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival)[3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 河流 (*He liu*)[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-river-1997) |\n| Director and writer | Tsai Ming-liang, his third feature after *Rebels of the Neon God* (1992) and *Vive l'Amour* (1994)[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river) |\n| Production | Taiwan, 1997; Mandarin; about 115 minutes; produced by Central Motion Picture Corporation[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river) • [3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf) |\n| Lead cast | Lee Kang-sheng (Hsiao-Kang), Miao Tien (father), Lu Hsiao-ling (mother); Hong Kong director Ann Hui appears as herself, a film director[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the/cast-and-crew) |\n| Awards | 1997 Berlin International Film Festival: Jury Award and FIPRESCI Prize; 1997 Chicago Film Festival: Silver Hugo Jury Award[3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf) |\n| Release | France, 27 August 1997; England, 20 March 1998[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/he-liu) |\n| Reception | 75% Tomatometer (12 reviews) and 77% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHsiao-Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) shares a Taipei apartment with his parents, and the three lead entirely separate lives[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river). The mother (Lu Hsiao-ling) works as a lift attendant in a restaurant and has a lover; the retired father (Miao Tien) frequents the city's gay saunas[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river) • [3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf).\n\nThrough a classmate, Hsiao-Kang finds himself on the set of a film directed by Ann Hui, playing a real version of a corpse the crew has failed to fake with a mannequin: he floats face down in the polluted Tanshui River in Taipei[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). He is resistant at first, knowing the water is unclean, but agrees at the director's insistence[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). Riding his moped afterward, he feels a twinge in the nape of his neck that grows into severe, unexplainable pain[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/).\n\nThe rest of the film chronicles the treatments his parents subject him to, ancient and modern: medicinal spray, patches, an injection, massage, acupuncture, a provincial healer, and even a vibrator[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). Nothing helps, and the pain worsens[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river). Meanwhile the father battles a leak in his bedroom, building an elaborate contraption of canvas, tubes, buckets, and towels that never contains the water[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). Hsiao-Kang is eventually admitted to hospital, and when the doctors also cannot help, he considers suicide[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river).\n\nThe film's most discussed scene brings father and son together unknowingly in the same gay sauna, where their secrets are starkly revealed[8](https://2026.filmmovement.com/press/film/the-river). Film critic Adrian Martin describes the encounter as breaking one of society's most enduring taboos while registering, for viewers open to it, as one of the most tender acts shown in cinema; afterward the characters withdraw from what has been revealed and return to their solitary pain[9](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/r/river_1997.html).\n\n## Themes and style\n\nTsai uses his signature long, static takes to document the sensorial reality of pain in real time; one 132-second shot shows acupuncture needles being inserted into the tips of Hsiao-Kang's fingers and palm[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). The film centers on a deeply disconnected family who live together but barely exchange words, sleeping in separate rooms and interacting only about their son[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). Critics have read the chronic, unexplainable nature of the illness as resisting conventional causal narrative, and the father's uncontrollable leak as echoing both his hidden desires and his son's incurable affliction[7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/).\n\nThe film is the third in Tsai's Taipei cycle and shares cast, characters, and motifs with *[Rebels of the Neon God](https://www.edgepedia.org/rebels-of-the-neon-god)* and *Vive l'Amour*; Lu Hsiao-ling and Miao Tien play the same character's parents in both *Rebels of the Neon God* and this film[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/he-liu) • [7](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/). The watery theme recurs across Tsai's work, from the flooded apartment in *Rebels of the Neon God* to *The Hole* (1998)[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/he-liu).\n\n## Production background\n\nAn origin note on IMDb states that during the production of *[Vive L'Amour](https://www.edgepedia.org/vive-lamour)*, which immediately preceded *The River*, star Lee Kang-sheng dealt with chronic neck pains that inspired the film[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119263/). The screenplay is credited to Tsai Ming-liang with Tsai Yi-chun and Yang Pi-ying, with cinematography by Liao Pen-jung[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/he-liu). Producers were Chiu Shun-ching and Hsu Li-kong, with Chung Hu-ping as executive producer, for Central Motion Picture Corporation[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the/cast-and-crew) • [3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf).\n\n## Reception\n\nThe film won the Jury Award, one of the Silver Bears, and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival, and a Silver Hugo Jury Award at the 1997 Chicago Film Festival[3](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf). The French magazine *Cahiers du Cinéma* voted it one of the ten best films of the 1990s[11](https://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2001/river.shtml). On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 75% Tomatometer from 12 critics and a 77% audience score[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the). [Susan Sontag](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-sontag), writing in *Artforum*, observed that nobody pictures despair and silence like Tsai, who uses the same actors and often the same apartment location film after film[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the). Scott Tobias, in [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club), called the film difficult and unpleasant at times but masterful as a somber metaphor for contaminated lives[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the).\n\nThe film is currently unavailable to stream in the United States; it was last available on the Apple TV Store until January 2022[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-river-1997). Film Movement Classics has released it on home video in a restoration[8](https://2026.filmmovement.com/press/film/the-river).\n\n## Note on other films of the same title\n\nThe title *The River* has been used by several unrelated films, including [Jean Renoir](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-renoir)'s *The River* (1951), set in India, and [Mark Rydell](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-rydell)'s 1984 American drama about Tennessee farmers starring [Mel Gibson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-gibson) and Sissy Spacek[12](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/357-the-river-a-new-authenticity) • [13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1017649-river). A separate horror film titled *River*, directed by Joshua Giuliano and starring Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe, is a later, unrelated production distributed by Universal Pictures and Blumhouse[14](https://www.universalpictures.com/movies/river/synopsis/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [The River, International Film Festival Rotterdam 1998](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/the-river)\n2. [The River, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the)\n3. [Taiwan Cinema: The River (河流), Taiwan Film Institute](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/public/Attachment/622410274371.pdf)\n4. [The River (1997) streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-river-1997)\n5. [The River: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/river-the/cast-and-crew)\n6. [He Liu, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/he-liu)\n7. [Afflictions of Pain and Desire: The River (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997), Alex Williams, Senses of Cinema, May 2023](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2023/cteq/afflictions-of-pain-and-desire-the-river-tsai-ming-liang-1997/)\n8. [The River, Film Movement Classics](https://2026.filmmovement.com/press/film/the-river)\n9. [The River (He liu, Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, 1997), Adrian Martin](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/r/river_1997.html)\n10. [The River (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119263/)\n11. [The River (1997), Combustible Celluloid](https://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2001/river.shtml)\n12. [The River: A New Authenticity, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/357-the-river-a-new-authenticity)\n13. [The River (1984), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1017649-river)\n14. [River, Universal Pictures synopsis](https://www.universalpictures.com/movies/river/synopsis/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films late 1990s › Released 1995 to 1998*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The River (1997 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The River (1997 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The River (1997 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-river-1997-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The River is Tsai Ming-liang's 1997 Taiwanese drama, his third feature, about Hsiao-Kang's incurable neck pain after floating in the polluted Tanshui River; it won the Berlin Silver Bear Jury Award." }