The Crimson Rivers (French: Les rivières pourpres) is a 2000 French police drama film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and based on the best-selling novel Les rivières pourpres by the film's co-writer Jean-Christophe Grangé. A sequel, Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse (Les rivières pourpres II: Les anges de l'apocalypse), was released in 2004.
Synopsis
Detective Superintendent (Commissaire Principal) Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno), a well-known investigator, is sent to the fictional small university town of Guernon in the French Alps to investigate a brutal murder and mutilation; the victim's body had been placed in the fetal position, his eyes removed and his hands cut off. The victim was a senior student of the university. Superintendent Niemans begins his investigation by enlisting the help of Fanny Ferreira (Nadia Farès), who is a glaciologist and a student at the university.
Meanwhile, Detective Inspector (Lieutenant de Police) and former car thief[1] Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel) is in the nearby town of Sarzac investigating the desecration of the grave of a girl who died in 1982, and the theft of her photos from the local primary school. His first suspects, a gang of skinheads, lead him to Guernon, where his investigation collides with that of Superintendent Niemans. As the plot unfolds, Niemans and Kerkerian notice the startling connections between their cases, and the remainder of the film revolves around their combined efforts to solve the mystery and prevent further bloodshed.
Explanation of the plot
Actor Vincent Cassel who played the young cop admitted, "I can't help explain the film because I didn't understand it!" "We cut out everything in the film that was explanatory, therefore 'boring' [according to the director]. You end up with a film that's not boring but you don't understand it [at] all. In the end, I think it's better to have a boring film with a story you understand."
Below is a long explanation of the film for all the people that don't have the DVD or book.
The old university has been trying to create a superior race for generations. Howerver, the closed society has too much incest going on for too long. The bloodlines are weak and worn out. Genetic problems keep popping up such as the eye disease.
In order to bring new blood into the university community, the three manipulators (Dr. Chernezé, nurse and librarian?) begin switching babies, stealing strong babies from the mountain villages. Gradually, they brought into the professors' homes children who weren't from their bloodlines, but village children who were the children of skiers, athletes, the children of people exposed to nature who are healthy. Gradually, the university community, which was sickly and weak, became healthier and healthier.
That's the manipulation of the crimson rivers, the symbol for the blood of athletes. The dean's son quotes, "We control the crimson rivers."
One day, a mountain couple has twins. Fanny is taken away to become the daughter of two professors. The mountain couple is told that one of their twins died. They are sad, but at least they still have Judith Herault and go back into the mountains. The problem is that 11 years later, the mother return to Guernon and visits the school for the children of the university professors. Two children in the same school have the same face despite being from two different families. These twins are incriminating evidence of a manipulation or mix-up at the maternity ward. When the three manipulators discover that the little girl is back, they try to kill her.
Judith's mother understands vaguely that someone is trying to kill her child. She takes her child and hides in another town, where the young cop will be investigating later. She thinks of a way to save Judith by making the evil people think that Judith is dead. She cuts off Judith's finger. She had dug up the body of another child and had it run over by a truck in 1982. She makes people believe that Judith died by holding the finger left on the side of the road.
From then on, Judith lives in the shadow of her sister Fanny. The two twins live one life. They change roles regularly. When one hides, the other lives openly. Judith is the one who mutilates, who tortures, who starts an insane vengeance.
Judith tortures and kills the librarian Rémy Caillois, who had been continuing his father's thesis on eugenics. She takes away the identifying hands and eyes, just as the twins' identity were taken away. The goal of the twins is for the crimson river conspiracy to be discovered; they are giving hints as to their motives. At the end of the movie, Fanny tells detective Pierre Niemans that she wanted him to understand, so no one could forget.
When the conspirators learn about how the librarian died, they panic. They go to the cemetery to find out about Judith. They desecrated the tomb with a swastika to make the police think that it was the work of skinheads. They steal her records from the school.
The reflections involved with each of the three murders hint that there are double killers, just like a reflection. Fanny is supposed to have seen the librarian's body from the reflection off a river. Niemans discovers the second body (Philippe Sertys who worked in the university maternity wing) through the ice. After Fanny murders Dr. Bernard Chernezé, his body is reflected in the dark window of his house.
Niemans realizes that glaciologist Fanny intends to start an avalanche upon the university, which is located in a valley, but he doesn't know about the twin. The director doesn't want to explain any of the above, so instead the movie ends with Niemans starting to explain why he's afraid of dogs.
Awards
The Crimson Rivers was nominated for five César Awards: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Music, Best Editing, and Best Sound. It also received one European Film Awards nomination for Best Director and two nominations for Best Actor (Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel). It was also nominated for the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Cast and roles
See also
References
External links
