The River is a modern-day epic that harks back to the populism of the 1930s in its story of small farmers battling the triple threat of natural disasters, grinding poverty, and the advent of agri-business. Filmed in eastern Tennessee--a locale effectively captured by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond--the new film, directed by Mark Rydell, stars Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson as a rural couple who must draw on the strength and tenderness of their country upbringing to bring their family through both the daily struggles and the monumental crises involved in maintaining a family farm today. After successfully fighting back the storm-swollen river that borders their farm, they find themselves saddled with debts and unable to obtain loans from bankers who once met their every borrowing need, but who are now aligned with plans to build a dam and hydro-electric plant that would necessitate flooding the valley. As the ambitious manager of the new combine, Scott Glen embodies the grim mien of a man marching in step with uncaring progress.