Review of The Crimson Rivers (2000) by Kai82 — 24 Jun 2021

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.