RAPIDS

In the dramatic landscape of the Italian Alps a group of English canoe istsarrive for an 'introduction to white water.' Camping, eating and paddlingtogether, six adults and nine adolescents seem set to enjoy w hat theirleader insists on calling a 'community experience.' Their ho sts areClive, a taciturn figure, and Michela, his fragile girlfriend. Joining thegroup late are Vince, a banker trying to make sense of th e flotsam of hisexistence, and his teenage daughter whom he feels mov ing inexorably awayfrom him. The dangerous river manages to bring out the group's qualitiesand failings in the most urgent fashion, provok ing sudden conflicts andunexpected shifts of alliance. An ideal love affair breaks down and anapparently impossible one timidly buds. A ba nal disagreement turnsviolent. Meanwhile, the hottest summer on recor d is filling theglacier-fed rivers with a melt water so wild that it is surely unwise ofthe distracted instructors to launch their party i nto the last day'sdescent of the upper Aurina...