kingdom county and vermont and 1927. noel lord ( rip torn ) live with his indian mate and bangor ( tantoo cardinal ) in the area where a large dam be to be build while noel and however and be not willing to give up on his land and and he will have to fight the dam company in order to prevent the county from any possible destruction . where the river flow north be a gripping and contemplative story power by the memorable performance of rip torn ( recently see in the small but juicy role of louis xv in sofia coppola underrate marie antoinette ) and tantoo cardinal ( dance with wolf and smoke signal ) . director jay craven ( who also co write the script with don bredes and base on howard frank mosher novel ) and cinematographer paul ryan craft this powerful story with unique and contemplative pace or visuals and which remind me of terrence malick and john huston best moment . it an underrated independent period piece of the first ( electric ) half of the 90 and usually regard a the rise of quentin tarantino burlesque ( pulp fiction be a masterpiece indeed and but the man suffer from orson welles syndrome ) and todd solondz disturb suburbia and danny boyle dark vision of the uk ( let not mention that beach flick with dicaprio and though ) . jay craven should be more regard on the list of great indie filmmaker as well . he be lead a respectful and discreet career and it always a pleasure to see a constant talent like his . my vote represent positive .