X
- 2001
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 2001
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
Summary An action thriller set in against the breathtaking backdrop of the French Alps, The Crimson Rivers stars Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel in a gripping who-dunnit involving a series of grisly murders, a child's death twenty years earlier, and the secret history of a small town. (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Directed By: Mathieu Kassovitz
Written By: Jean-Christophe Grangé, Mathieu Kassovitz
- 2001
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 2001
- R
- TriStar Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
The Crimson Rivers
49
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary An action thriller set in against the breathtaking backdrop of the French Alps, The Crimson Rivers stars Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel in a gripping who-dunnit involving a series of grisly murders, a child's death twenty years earlier, and the secret history of a small town. (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Directed By: Mathieu Kassovitz
Written By: Jean-Christophe Grangé, Mathieu Kassovitz
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
49
32% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
53% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
16% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
49
32% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
53% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
16% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
A breathtaking exercise in the macabre, a gruesome thriller with quirky cops and a killer of Lecterian complexity, and even when the movie is perfect nonsense, it's so voluptuous that you're grateful to be watching it anyway.
The Crimson Rivers could teach many an American thriller a thing or two about sophisticated creepiness.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
7.1
76% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
21% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
7.1
76% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
21% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
The Crimson Rivers is a great French thriller. Magnificent French duo of Jean Renault and Vincent Cassel. A confusing and not straightforward story that is well adapted in the film. There is also suspense in the right moments. The Crimson Rivers surprises with its approach, the thriller was shot perfectly, surprises that French cinema can do so. Still, French cinema is associated with other genres and other levels of films. The Crimson Rivers can be recommended to anyone who likes not only French films, but also thrillers. The beginning of the film is somewhat delayed, but everything is compensated by the final third film, a great ending.
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Glossy, gruesome police drama.
Two things make this film slightly more interesting than its American B-movie equivalents. There's the artless way it shows the French state exercising its power and the charisma of French stars.
Never lets up: A door can't shut without sounding like a bomb going off; mutilated bodies show up with clockwork punctuality, gratuitously underscored by a relentlessly overbearing soundtrack.
Not even the strong, reflective, world-weary presence of Reno or Cassel's energy can make a dent in a movie in which suspense and tension dissipate quickly, with action sequences not spectacular enough to compensate. All that's left is gratuitous gore.
It has a dark enjoyable thriller with a great atmosphere, an excellent cast and unique ideas for the story but is not for everyone's taste. The downside is that the story is for many not well enough explained. The director made the choice to not (well) explain all backgrounds and context in the story. I was able to puzzle the backstory together but it diluted the experience a little bit and a lot was just (correct) guessing. I could have been wrong here too so I think this point is valid criticism. However the atmosphere, mystery and good cast of actors are the saving grave of the movie. I watched it with friends and it was a good experience for all of us. So this is already the mayor deciding factor for you. If you can live with not getting everything explained on a silver plate and you fill the gaps with ideas / speculations it is a good experience. Otherwise it is also fair to describe it with weak story telling up to calling it a failure if you favor better storytelling. The story starts when Pierre Niemans an investigator from Paris is sent to a university town in the french alps to investigate a gruesome murder case. There will be much more to this and it is the start to a cat and mouse game with a story unlike anything you have seen before. I like the story and atmosphere and for me it works well. Like I said there a few gaps but I was able to fill them and I am considering myself not as second coming of Einstein or Stephen Hawking. It is refreshing and something nearly no one would expect (in a positive way). The story is actually based on a book “Blood Red Rivers” from Jean Christophe Grange I have yet to read so I can make no comparison in this review. The cast is well chosen with Jean Reno as Pierre Niemans who does a truly convincing job. Then we have Vincent Cassel as Max Kerkerian. He does a similar good job and both work well together. Nadia Fares can fully deliver a wide variety in her role and it is sad that I cant go into details because of spoilers. These 3 carry the movie and are a great strength. The other actors give a good performance and I see no reason to not praise the cast. For the director Mathieu Kassovitz I will say he created something unique that can be praised and scold at the same time. Other than that the visuals and atmosphere of the movie are excellent. I think they used a lot of care to chose the right sets, characters and dialogues to archive the desired effects / results. It shows also the abyss of human minds. Overall I repeat this is not a movie for everyone and it is one of the hit or miss movies. It is however unique enough that I can recommend it. I should warn you that some scenes are a bit gruesome and disturbing.
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It deserved a much better end.
French cinema, not infrequently, offers us real pearls. This is one more. A solid, well-made thriller with action and suspense in right action and two excellent actors in the lead roles. What disillusioned me a little was just the end, which falls into an absurd cliché.
The script is based on an apparent coincidence: two police officers investigating isolated cases end up realizing that they will have to collaborate to solve a case that ultimately unites them: a wave of macabre and mysterious murders, all around an ancient university and prestigious, isolated in the middle of the French Alps.
Much of the quality of the film comes from the excellent performance of Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, two of the most international and prestigious French actors today. The former gave life to a hard-working, unrelenting professional detective, while the other was able to perfectly embody an unconventional, young, untimely cop. The other actors, for me, were a group of illustrious strangers who only gave support to these two professionals, but it is to be noted that everyone did well what they had to do.
The film made good use of the icy landscapes of the Alps, as well as the whole winter environment. The soundtrack is very good and adds suspense at the right times, as well as sound, visual and special effects. It's not a CGI show, though. It is based entirely on the weight of the two main actors, on the ability of both to interpret well, and on the story told.
As I mentioned initially, the film is perfect until very near the end, when it tries to surprise us with a turnaround that, for me, made no sense and prejudiced the plot. The climax, in the middle ****, is absolutely cliché and boring, and ends up resorting to the ragged solution of the bad twin vs. nice twin. Absurd. It would have been better to solve the movie otherwise, he truly deserved it. Anyway, as this happens even in the final part, the film is still one of those I like to see.
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Production Company
Légende Films,
Gaumont,
TF1 Films Production,
Canal+
Release Date Jun 29, 2001
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating R
Tagline Evil rises to new heights.
Awards
César Awards, France
• 5 Nominations
Étoiles d'Or, France
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
San Sebastián International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
