La Rivière Espérance is a French TV series, 9 episodes of 90 minutes each, directed by Josée Dayan based on the novel by Christian Signol and shown in 1995 on France 2.
1832, Périgord : Benjamin and Marie are two childhood friends.
Benjamin's father is a merchant sailor on the river Dordogne.
Fights with merchants and sailors sometimes finish off quite uglily.
Will he be able to stay loyal to his friend Marie, or will his nightly 'rendez-vous' with Emeline Lombard, daughter of the rich merchant on whom they depend, separate them?