The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray

The Crimson Rivers

 (2000)

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray delivers great video and reference-quality audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Veteran cop Pierre Niemans is sent to Guernon to investigate a bizarre murder near a legendary private school isolated in the Alps. And it's no ordinary murder; the killer has been very methodical, leaving twisted inexplicable clues to his motive. Complicating matters are the university administrators who are uncooperative and somewhat defiant to Niemans' questioning. Meanwhile Max Kerkerian, an impetuous young cop and former car thief, arrives at a desecrated grave yard 180 miles away. Someone has disturbed the grave of a child who died twenty years before. These two seemingly random events are about to collide as the separate investigations lead the detectives right to one another. The more experienced Niemans begrudgingly joins forces with the brash Max to track down the killer. Despite his ribbing and constant sarcastic banter, Max respects the older cop.

For more about The Crimson Rivers and The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray release, see The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray Review

Starring: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, April 11, 2009

Mathieu Kassovitz's gritty thriller "The Crimson Rivers" (2002) gets a solid Blu-ray treatment via French distributors Gaumont. The disc offers a good AVC-encoded transfer and a top-notch DTS-HD Master Audio track. Region-Free.

Detective Pierre Niemans

Paris-based Detective Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno, Leon: The Professional) is sent to Gueron, a prestigious university nestled high in the French Alps, where a man is killed in an unusually brutal fashion. Niemans immediately begins asking questions no one wants to answer and warns the annoyed Dean that he isn't going back until the killer is captured.

A second cop, Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel, Brotherhood of the Wolf), who has been investigating the desecration of a grave belonging to a girl who disappeared many years ago as well as a school break-in, meets Niemans after it becomes obvious that there is some sort of a connection between the cases they are working on. Kerkerian, a former car thief, is much younger than Niemans.

The two cops team up but get lost in a sea of leads. Kerkerian goes after a group of local Nazis that aren't afraid of the police. Niemans visits the university where the victim worked as a librarian. As the two attempt to gather more information, a second murder occurs.

French director Mathieu Kassovitz first captured the attention of film critics and fellow directors when his gritty urban drama La Haine premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. In fact, the jury members were so impressed with the young Frenchman that they recognized him with the prestigious Best Director Award.

The Crimson Rivers was completed five years after La Haine. It was inspired by Jean-Christophe Grangé's novel, which had become a major bestseller in France. It was the success of David Fincher's tense thriller Seven (1995), however, that convinced Kassowitz to give The Crimson Rivers a chance.

There are a couple of things that really stand out about The Crimson Rivers. First of all, this is a dark and very moody film where misdirection is used to perfection. It takes a long time to put all of the scattered pieces from its mystery puzzle together and, with a few minor exceptions, there are no annoying clichés that detract from its moody aura.

Furthermore, all of the graphic scenes are expertly shot. As mentioned earlier, it appears that Kassovitz studied Seven very closely as the emphasis on detail in his film is absolutely perfect; even during close-ups, one would be hard-pressed not to recognize how chillingly authentic the corpses look.

This being said, Reno and Cassel carry The Crimson Rivers in a manner arguably no other pair of French actors would have been able to match. They are not perfect – occasionally, Reno overplays the jadedness that his character is remembered with, while Cassel wants to be wilder than the script requires – but certainly manage to add a lot of flavor to the suspenseful tone of the film (the scene where the killer first confronts Niemans and spares his life enhances the sense of paranoia far better than the graphic scenes do). The two actors are also joined by the beautiful Nadia Farès (The Nest) who has a key role during the second half of the film.

Finally, The Crimson Rivers also benefits from an outstanding score - a lush blend of ambient, downtempo, and orchestral music - courtesy of Bruno Coulais (Olivier Marchal's MR 73), whose efforts were recognized by the French Film Industry with a César nomination for Best Music written for a film (Meilleure musique) in 2001.

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mathieu Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

Gaumont have struck a new HD transfer for this interesting film and the results speak for themselves. Contrast is strong, clarity and detail very pleasing, and the color-scheme rich but not artificially boosted (a lot of the indoor scenes looked quite lifeless on the French 2DVD "coffret" so this 1080p transfer certainly addresses plenty of issues as far as color saturation is concerned). Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are also not a major issue of concern. On the contrary, The Crimson Rivers looks fresh yet notably natural. This being said, the actual print used by Gaumont also appears to be in top-notch condition – I did not detect any disturbing debris, specks, or stains to report in this review. To sum it all up, the French distributors have put together yet another solid package that is well worth importing. (Note: This is Blu-ray disc is Region-Free. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Music/commentary DTS-HD HR 5.1.

When The Crimson Rivers was first released on DVD in France, its DTS 5.1 track was amongst the best audio tracks the format boasted. Well, Gaumont are once again set to impress a lot of people with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track they've included on this Blu-ray disc. This is an extremely aggressive track with a powerful and very effective bass and plenty of activity in the rear channels that enhance the viewing experience tremendously well. Indeed, there are a number of scenes – the chase scene at the stadium where one could literally feel Cassel collapsing as well as the avalanche scene at the end of the film – that will impress you. Furthermore, Bruno Coulais's atmospheric soundtrack is also a pleasure to listen to (I strongly suggest that you listen to the DTS-HD HR 5.1 music score where he also addresses a few of them). On the other hand, the dialog is crisp and exceptionally easy to follow. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, and hissings to report here. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional French HOH and English subtitles that are split between the image frame and the black area below it.

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

Gaumont have loaded up this Blu-ray disc with some interesting extras. First, there is an audio commentary courtesy of Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel, and Jean Reno. Most unfortunately, however, the commentary is not subtitled in English; though, if you are fluent in French, I strongly recommend that you listen to it (Jean Reno is absolutely hilarious). Next is a nice featurette titled L'enquete (Le sense cache des Rivieres Pourpres (52 min) where cast and crew members discuss their work on The Crimson Rivers. Autopsie contains a number of smaller featurettes – La Scene au scalpel (a visual deconstruction of the autopsy scene addressed by Mathieu Kassovitz, 28 min); Naissance d'un cadaver (Jean Christophe Spadaccini and Denis Gastou address the technical construction of the film and specifically the "corpses", 9 min); Tournage muscle (addresses the fighting scene between the Nazis and Vincent Cassel's character; with an optional commentary by Vincent Cassel and Nicky Naude, 7 min); Tournage de nuit (focuses on the chase scene during the second half of the film. 9 min); Turnage en altitude (focuses on the locations used for some of the more challenging scenes in the film – the glacier, avalanche, etc. 10 min); Les Rivieres Blanches (a standard Making-Of featurette showing comparisons between the storyboards and the final cut of the film, 15 min). In Memoriam contains a gallery with storyboard stills, another featurette addressing the tech team's contribution, and the original theatrical trailer for the film. (Note: with the exception of the theatrical trailer, all of the extras are in standard-def PAL and without optional English subtitles).

The Crimson Rivers Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Those of you who enjoy atmospheric thrillers with plenty of suspense should take a look at The Crimson Rivers. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of French distributors Gaumont, is Region-Free, English-friendly and with a top-notch audio track. Recommended.

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