Les rivières pourpres

The novel by Jean-Cristophe Grangè on which this film is based is simply one of the best thrillers ever written,in the same league as The Silence of the Lambs and Misery,and with the help of writer/director Mathieu Kassovitz(who was also supposed to be one of the actors)the author has successfully brought his masterpiece to the screen.

From the very beginning,thanks to the location and Bruno Coulais'unsettling score,we realize French people can make good horror thrillers: Pierre Niemans(Jean Reno) is in Grenoble to solve a couple of weird and brutal murders,while Max Kerkerian(Vincent Cassel)investigates a damaged tomb somewhere else. Soon they discover the two cases are connected,and the two men have to run against the clock in order to uncover the awful truth about what's been going on in the local university for years.

The book has been simplified(the first chapter is entirely missing,as well as some of the details about Cassel's case),but the movie manages to be very interesting,and the chemistry between Reno and Cassel is great.

Special praise for Dominique Sanda,her creepy cameo being the film's best sequence(Sissy Spacek appears in a similar scene in The Ring 2).

Only defect:why did they make the sequel?

Echoes of "The Boys From Brazil" and "Name of the Rose" in this fast-moving, gorgeously-set (small alpine towns near Grenoble) French thriller, which has a really nasty conspiracy in a closed community as an underlying subplot. Two interleaved storylines involve two detectives in towns 100 km apart. Young, feisty Kerkerian (Cassel) is investigating the desecration of the tomb of a young girl. Meanwhile, supersleuth Niemans (Reno) is drafted in from Paris to assist local gendarmes in solving a nasty torture-murder of an academic at a small private University. More bodies turn up, suspects become victims, and eventually the paths of the two cops cross. Visually utterly beautiful, particularly the College, the Library, and the glacier/ice tunnel scenes. Characters strongly drawn and sympathetic. One pretty straight fight scene, little dwelling on active perpetration of violence, but much lingering on the unpleasantly gory aftermath. This is particularly the case with the rather gratuitous opening sequence, which is overdone relative to the rest of the film. My main cavil involves the poor ending, where a last-minute surprise twist creates more loose ends than it ties up. Nevertheless, so watchable that this one gets 9/10.

In Guernon, an isolated mountain area where the local University rules the town, the Chief Inspector Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno) arrives from Paris to investigate a hideous crime, when the victim was tortured and mutilated before dying. Meanwhile, Detective Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel) comes to the same place, following the investigation of a profaned tomb of a young girl. They join forces and find a plot of eugenics in the University, with abductions, murders and revenge.

Yesterday I saw this great movie again, trying to find some answers to questions I raised the first time I saw it four years ago. Unfortunately, they have no explanations along the story. "Les Rivières Pourpres" has magnificent locations, maybe the most beautiful landscapes I have seen in a crime movie. The cast is outstanding, highlighting the charismatic Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel. However, the screenplay has flaws and presents a deceptive conclusion. My questions are: (1) If Judith was kidnapped in the nursery of the hospital, exchanged by the daughter of another person, what happened to the other child? (2) Who raised Judith, if her mother got crazy and went to a dark cell in a convent? (3) If her mother knew where her other daughter was, why didn't she go to the French justice and fight to retrieve the child? (4) How Judith found and approached Fanny? Anyway, usually worths watching serial killer stories and this one is very above the average. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Rio Vermelhos" ("Red Rivers")

"The Crimson Rivers" tells of two French detectives on converging investigative paths leading to the "who" in whodunit as they leapfrog from one tense moment to the next in this good but not great macabre and sometimes gruesome serial killer mystery. What this flick lacks in story it more than makes up for in artistry and verve as it carves itself out of hauntingly beautiful vistas, superb cinematography, great sound and score, and, perhaps best of all for English speakers, excellent dubbed translations. Well worth the time for those with an eye for artistry in film and a taste for dark thrillers.

Mathieu Kassovitz's film featuring the incomparable Jean Reno (The Professional) and Vincent Cassel (Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen) is a thrill ride that never stops.

The French countryside with the spooky houses is a feast for the eyes. Thierry Arbogast's (The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc) camera made this entire film a joy to watch. The scenery was complimented by the music of Bruno Coulais (The Chorus).

But, it was Jean Reno that brought me to this film. His Commissioner Niemans was just what I expected from him. He has a way that makes the perfect cop. That is not to dismiss Callel's Lieutenant Kerkerian, who was a perfect partner.

The story was definitely creepy with some graphic scenes of tortured bodies, but it was not off putting. It was essential to the story, which really had some extremely interesting twists and turns.

Niemans and Kerkerian prevail, of course, but it was the journey that was so satisfying.