When an eyeless, handless corpse is found in an isolated French university town, highly regarded police detective Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno) is brought in from Paris to investigate. Meanwhile, about 60 miles away, streetwise cop Max Kerkorian (Vincent Cassel) is working an investigation of his own: the desecration of a grave of a 10-year-old girl who died in a gruesome car accident. It isn’t long before additional bodies pile up and the two cases begin to intersect.
From the opening shot of a worm-ravaged body lying in snow to the closing fade away atop the icy mountains, this 2000 French thriller by Matthieu Kassovitz is nothing if not evocative. Gruesome, suspenseful and chilling, it features a taut pace, breathtaking cinematography and a creepy, if occasionally overbearing score.
The acting takes a backseat to the film’s technical elements, but it is far from deficient. Reno plays the veteran cop as calm, collected and determined….save for a mysterious fear of dogs. Cassel is annoying at times as his younger counterpart, but gets some of the film’s funnier lines and gives Max an edge. The strangest performance may be that of Dominique Sanda as the dead girl’s mother – a shadow-dwelling nun who looks like she stepped off the set of The Omen.
Given the film’s many strengths, it’s a shame that it builds to such an unsatisfying, confusing and ultimately preposterous conclusion. The killer’s identity is a major letdown and Kassovitz’ attempt at political allegory, while well-intentioned, is thoroughly mishandled and misplaced.
Had Kassovitz not fumbled by biting off more than he could chew thematically, The Crimson Rivers probably would have been a great film. Instead, it will have to settle for being a good one with a bad ending.
7.5/10
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