The Crimson Rivers

The Crimson Rivers
by Mathieu Kassovitz

The Crimson Rivers
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Dominique Sanda, Jean Reno, Karim Belkhadra, Nadia Far?s, Vincent Cassel
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Brand: RENO,JEAN
Cinematographer: Thierry Arbogast
Writer: Mathieu Kassovitz
Editor: Maryline Monthieux
Producer: Alain Goldman
Producer: Catherine Morisse
Producer: J?r?me Chalou
Writer: Jean-Christophe Grang?
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-10-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures

Movie Reviews of The Crimson Rivers

Movie Review: A solid thriller up to the far-fetched ending
Summary: 3 Stars

A Parisian police officer (Jean Reno) is called to a small university in the mountains to solve the grisly murder of the university's librarian. Meanwhile, a second police officer (Vincent Cassel), investigating a theft at a school and the desecration of a graveyard finds his investigations also lead him to this same university.

Having just finished watching "The Crimson Rivers" and "Empire of the Wolves", both of which are based on novels by French author Jean-Christophe Grange, both my father and I are in agreement that "Empire of the Wolves" is the better film. There are many similarities between the two films: both are police procedurals with a twist (and a pretty far-fetched one, in each case); both star Jean Reno (in very similar parts); and both feature two seemingly unrelated storylines that you just know are bound to intersect around the mid-point of the film. However, "Empire of the Wolves" pulls it off better and makes the plot seem less far-fetched than it actually is.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't watch "The Crimson Rivers". In spite of its short comings, including the fact that it doesn't quite manage to pull off the final denouement, it is still a solid thriller that I enjoyed watching, even the second time around. Having also read the book upon which it is based, I can also say that it is a reasonably faithful adaptation that shouldn't disappoint fans of the book too much, but those who haven't read the book shouldn't find it difficult to follow either.

A sequel to this film, "Crimson Rivers: Angels of the Apocalypse", also exists, with a script by Luc Besson, but this is an "original" screenplay that bears little resemblance to "The Crimson Rivers" (beyond the fact that Reno plays the same characters in both). It is not based on a book by Jean-Christophe Grange.

Summary of The Crimson Rivers

Two detectives investigate a serial murderer.
Genre: Foreign Film - French
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-JUN-2005
Media Type: DVD
Legendary police commissioner Ni?mans (Jean Reno) travels to a remote university village in the Alps to solve a grisly murder while hotheaded Lieutenant Kerkerian (Hate's Vincent Cassel) is investigating the desecration of the tomb of a young girl killed in an auto accident 20 years ago. When the detectives discover that the incidents are related, they reluctantly join forces. The Crimson Rivers looks French but feels American. If it doesn't hit the heights of The Silence of the Lambs or Seven, it bests many of the thrillers that have followed in their wake. Mathieu Kassovitz directs as if this were high art, which is actually to the film's benefit: the cast is terrific (including Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vincent's father), the cinematography is stunning, and the classy score evokes The Exorcist. Although the mountaintop showdown at the end doesn't quite work, The Crimson Rivers is still a superior entrant into an increasingly overcrowded genre. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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