Cheap The Crimson Rivers (DVD) (Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel) (Mathieu Kassovitz) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Crimson Rivers

Stunning and atmospheric gothic French "policier"
(This review relates to the French special edition release in THX. French title: Les Rivieres Pourpres) From the second the film starts, it is evident that France's Matthieu Kassovitz is more than capable of taking-on Hollywood in directing a stunning gothic chiller complete with a first class THX sound track. A badly mutilated body is found high in the Alps. The local police acquire the help of "special" police investigator, Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno), whose intent becomes not just to discover *who* committed the murder but also *why* it was committed. Simultaneously, a young Arab policeman, Karim Abdouf (played by Vincent Cassel of "La Haine"), living some 200km away is called in to investigate the desecration of a little girl's grave and a local school break-in. Both policeman are drawn slowly to the same potential perpetrator, discover two further murders and uncover a terrifying secret behind the murders. I bought the film yesterday in a French supermarket and I've already watched it three times. The style of the film, the photography and camera-work, the music, the twists and turns of the plot all make this a brilliant film. The actors are perfectly cast, with Jean Reno presenting a softer more thoughtful character than in the book of the same name whilst Vincent Cassel displays the edge of racial anger that was so visible in La Haine. The ending will probably generate a lot of discussion as to what exactly it means but, if the film is released in the same special edition form as in France, the additions on the second disc provide a level of insight rarely seen in other special edition DVDs - and supply that elusive answer! Buy it as soon as it is released!

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Ultra-commercial Gallic thriller
CRIMSON RIVERS [Les Rivieres Pourpres] (France 2000): The discovery of a corpse in the French Alps brings together two high-powered police investigators (Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel) - both working on apparently separate cases sixty miles apart - in search of a serial killer whose crimes are linked to a forgotten tragedy and a mysterious university steeped in blood and horror...

Ultra-commercial thriller from director Mathieu Kassovitz (LA HAINE), teaming Gallic superstars Reno and Cassel in a high-concept exploration of human callousness and depravity, reminiscent of similarly-styled murder mysteries like SE7EN and MESSIAH. Not as gruesome as those offerings, but certainly as sober, CRIMSON RIVERS - based on the novel by Jean-Christophe Grange - locates its horrors within the panoramic grandeur of the French Alps (gorgeous widescreen cinematography by Luc Besson's regular DP Thierry Arbogast), loaning the film an intense cinematic quality, typical of recent European blockbusters. Kassovitz keeps his camera moving at all times, maintaining a breathless pace as the protagonists wade through an accumulation of clues and details, some of which may elude less attentive viewers, and Maryline Monthieux's razor-sharp editing keeps the pot boiling throughout. Reno and Cassel are perfectly cast in the role of mismatched detectives, each dedicated to the task at hand, each using very different methods to solve the mystery unfolding around them. Dynamic set-pieces include an Argentoesque confrontation with the killer following the discovery of a murder victim arranged in ghoulish splendor, resulting in pursuit across an icy landscape at midnight, and a thrilling night-time car chase on a lonely mountain road, conceived and executed with genuine visual flair. The film's climactic revelations are so convoluted as to be virtually impenetrable, but the finale is suitably explosive, and even if you're able to guess the killer's identity before he/she is unmasked, screenwriters Kassovitz and Grange have more than one surprise up their sleeve during the closing sequence...

Aside from one significant flaw, Columbia TriStar's DVD is magnificent, with faultless sound and picture quality. Viewers are advised to choose the original 5.1 French soundtrack to experience the movie as Kassovitz intended, though the dubbed English option (in both 5.1 and 2.0 surround) is adequate, and Reno dubs his own voice. Viewers are advised that the killer's identity is easily deduced from comments made in an insert included with the DVD, in which Kassovitz talks about a particular cast member's ability to play two sides of the same character, which kinda gives the game away. Same goes for the lengthy supplementary materials, featuring a series of filmed interviews with the movie's principal participants, in which they discuss the film's production and the genesis of several key scenes (Kassovitz and producer Alain Goldman emphasize the film's strengths whilst also conceding areas in which things could have been better). First-time viewers are warned these extras contain extensive spoilers, along with a detailed explanation of the killer's motives, which makes up for some of the confusion generated by the film itself. There's an audio commentary involving the director and some of his cast, but in French only, with NO subtitles!! Columbia TriStar have been aware of this problem since the disc was first issued, but they STILL haven't corrected the mistake, which renders this crucial extra completely redundant.

105m 39s
2.39:1 (Panavision) / Anamorphically enhanced
Dolby 5.1 / Dolby Surround 2.0
Dolby Digital/DTS [theatrical]
Optional French (original) and English (dubbed) soundtracks
Optional English subtitles and closed captions
Region 1

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looks good but doesn't satisfy
Reno is always a pleasure to watch, but this run of the mill serial killer film holds no surprises.