LES RIVIERES POURPRES (CRIMSON RIVERS)
France, 2000, 106 minutes, Colour.
Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Fares, Dominique Sanda, Jean Pierre Cassel.
Directed by Matthieu Kassovitz.
Crimson Rivers made a strong impact when it was released in 2000. It was a French version of a very popular genre in English-language cinema: the serial killer.
The film is complex in its plot, far more complex than the individual serial killer and his pursuit by the police. Rather, the film shows an isolated environment, a university in the alps which was quite inbred and was investigating developments in eugenics. The dean, the professors and many of the staff were involved in these processes – without any respect for human feelings and the dignity of the human person. The consequence is that at some stage, retribution takes place.
The police investigation is led by veteran actor Jean Reno, a striking screen presence, taciturn, severe (Nikita, The Professional) as well as an ability at comedy (The Visitors, French Kiss, Tais- Toi). He also appeared in a number of international productions including such big-budget films as Rollerball, Mission Impossible 2, Godzilla, The Pink Panther and The da Vinci Code). He is matched by Vincent Cassel as the younger investigator. Cassel also had an international career as well as a strong presence in French films (Doberman, The Apartment, Elizabeth, The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Irreversible).
Also appearing in the film are the veterans Dominique Sanda and Jean- Pierre Cassel.
The film is quite graphic, always interesting, complex and exciting. The location photography in the alps is at times quite breathtaking. This is a superior film of its type.
Director Matthieu Kassovitz made some celebrated films including La Haine as well as Gothika. He has had a long career as an actor in such films as Amelie, Birthday Girl and was the Jesuit priest in Amen. He also appeared in such international films as The Fifth Element and Jakob the Liar and Munich.
1.The popularity of this French thriller? Police story? Serial killer investigation? Its style?
2.The alpine locations, the beauty of the scenery, the action within this scenery? The town, the university? The isolated university – its staff, personnel, credibility? The atmospheric score?
3.The title, the reference to the blood, the issue of eugenics and the sources of blood for continually improved physiological human beings? The eugenics theme?
4.The introduction into this world, the deaths, the graphic autopsies and close-ups? Appropriate for a world of science and investigations, eugenic developments? The later visuals of the corpses? Reminding audiences of the graphic reality of these killings?
5.The serial killer genre, audience interest, curiosity, disgust? The mystery? The psychology of the perpetrator? The skills of detection? Solutions? This plot as different from other serial killer films?
6.The first death, the heights, the information, Fanny and her finding the body? The different locations? Pierre Neimann and his arrival, type, appearance? The initial interactions with the locals? Their suspicion?
7.Neimann and his reputation, his personality, his styles of investigation, the interviews at the institute, with the dean, meeting his son, the professor? The girl and her skills at climbing? His going to the locations, the girl’s help, the cave? The build-up of the clues?
8.Max as the alternate policeman, younger? His own investigation? His arrival, the clashes with the locals, the later fights with the skinheads and his martial arts skills? The incident in the village, going to the cemetery, the investigation about the dead girl – and later exhuming her body? The attacks on him? Going to the school, the headmistress, the missing documents? Working on his leads?
9.Max and Pierre encountering each other, suspicious? Max’s admiration? Two loners having to collaborate?
10.The increasing dangers, the further deaths and the detail? The graphic death of the professor in his laboratory? The behaviour of the staff? The mysterious death of the professor, the pursuit in the car by the dean’s son?
11.Pierre’s visit to the monastery, discussion with the nuns, meeting the dead girl’s mother, the interview? Her story and the cloister?
12.The girl herself, the climax, her not shooting Pierre dead, the bullets around him? The reasons?
13.The revelation that there were two girls, the story of the twins, the photos? One being involved in the eugenics experiments? The other not? The effect on the mother? The university trying to disguise what had happened? The confrontation, the two women, the shootings – and the death of the assassin?
14.The university itself, inbred, the town? Being opened up by these events?
15.A satisfying picture of an aspect of French society, a satisfying police detective thriller, serial killer genre?
