Les Rivières pourpres

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.

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?

Suspense and action movie with a series killer committing grisly murders . It is entertaining enough and fast pace but lacking coherence at times . This thriller from France with considerable blood and guts centers on Inspector Niemans (Jean Reno) , a prestigious French detective assigned to investigate a brutal murder at a prestigious college located high in the Alps . The victim was first disfigured and dismembered , then strangled to death . Niemans soon realizes the murder was not an isolated incident when several similarly mangled corpses are discovered. Meanwhile , in a town 150 miles away, a young police investigator, Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel), is called in to investigate when the grave of a ten-year-old girl is dug up and ransacked . Before long there's more than a victim , all of whom have ties to university . As Niemans meets the young Kerkerian , agressive partner in provincial policeman , creating a peculiar couple , in buddy movie style . So two tough police inspectors join forces and find a terrible common link in the murders . Evil rises to new heights !. An unholy crime... An unstoppable killer... Caught in a deadly tide!.

Audacious and gruesome thriller set in French Alps in which a librarian from the local private university is found horribly mutilated on a mountain slope and Parisian investigator is called in , meantime another cop carrying out parallel discoveries , both of them nvestigating a series of creepy murders . In the picture there is thrills, chills , frenetic action , emotion , mystery , plot twists , spooky sets and a little bit of gore. This film has some good moments, such as the dark atmosphere and some thrilling pursuits and red herrings . The movie is a crossover between the intrigue of the ordinarily sinister American thrillers as ¨Seven¨ and the ¨French Polar¨. From the beginning of the film until the end , action-packed is nonstop , it's fast moving and that's why the picture results to be quite entertaining . The final confrontation between the starring and the contenders in the snowy mountains is spellbinding . Stars Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel who make a terrific screen team , an attractive buddy couple with just the right amount of humanism and humor to allow some tension relief for the story. These two awesome French actors are nicely accomanied by a fine support cast , such as : Nadia Farès, Dominique Sanda, Jean-Pierre Cassel , Philippe Nahon and Didier Flamand . The special effects are adequate as is the cinematography by Thierry Arbogast and excellent musical score by composer Bruno Coulais .The flick will appeal to thriller buffs and dark atmosphere enthusiasts . Rating : 6.5/10 , well worth watching .

The picture was well directed Mathieu Kassovitz . He is an actor and director , known for Amelie (2001) , The Fifth element (1997) and has directed a few films , such as : The hate (1995 ) , Assassin (1997) , Gothika (2003) , but he disowned the theatrical cut of ¨Babylon A. D.¨ (2008) suggesting that the studio behind it 20th Century Fox, had turned it into a dumb action movie and removed the complex issues and themes he had originally wanted the film to feature. This movie ¨Les rivières pourpres¨ (2000) obtained a lot of success , as the sequel "Rivières Pourpres II ", using the same character of Niemans . Les rivières pourpres 2 - Les anges de l'apocalypse (2004) was directed by Olivier Dahan featured by Jean Reno , Benoit Maginel, Christopher Lee , Camille Natta , Johnny Hallyday . Here Niemans/Reno , the police of the first part has to investigate weird murder series in isolated monasteries of Lorena (north of France) helped by Benoit Maginel , Vincent Cassel's similar role , they will take on Apocalypse angels , some monks with supernatural power and a villain and his evil henchmen . It is an acceptable sequel , but the plot is totally confused and quite silly, wasting what could be a good movie.

Although french, this movie is better than most hollywood churned wannabes. A gripping thriller with a slightly outlandish plot revolving around genetics and nazism. But dont let that turn u off. The film is absolute edge-of-the-seat fare. Jean reno is good as usual but vincent cassel dishes out excellent acting nuances which add to his character. Great acting! The scenes set in winter among the French Rhone Alpes are breath taking to say the least. The thrills keep on coming without having to take resort to loud background music, which make these moments even more rivetting. The english dubbing is good without too many quirks. RECOMMENDED! [Writing "Highly Recommended" would make you biased! ;-)]

I'm a big fan of the genre (and "Seven" is still one of my 10 favorite films of all time), but "The Crimson Rivers" just didn't cut it. It is undeniably directed with enough skill and confidence to rival any Hollywood blockbuster, it is filmed on wonderful locations and it has great performances by both leading stars. But the pace is slow and the plot is muddled. Supposedly the DVD "making-of" documentary clarifies matters somewhat (and I plan to watch it right now)....but still, that should never be the only way you could interpret a movie. (**)