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Film: The Crimson Rivers
Release date: 26th November 2001
Certificate: 15
Running time: 101 mins
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès, Dominique Sanda, Karim Belkhadra
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Sony
Format: DVD
Country: France
The Crimson Rivers (Les Rivières Pourpres), based on the best selling French novel of the same name by Jean-Christophe Grangé (who also co-wrote the screenplay) is an unabashed attempt to make a French Hollywood-style thriller.
A mutilated body, tied in the foetal position and missing both its eyes and hands, turns up high in the French Alps. Super detective Pierre Niemans (Reno) is called in to investigate, enlisting local glaciologist Fanny Ferreira (Farès) to help him understand the extreme conditions in which the body was found.
Meanwhile in the town of Sarzac, Detective Inspector Max Kerkerian (Cassel) investigates his own mystery, the desecration of a young girl’s tomb and apparent theft of her body. Kerkerian pursues the case, desperate to find any information he can about the girl, but somebody seems to be erasing her from history, and nobody is giving any answers.
The two cases soon become intertwined, and the reluctant duo team up to begin an unsettling tour of the local university, where everyone seems just a little too perfect, and the nearby town, where everyone seems the complete opposite. Something’s very wrong in this quiet mountain town, kept afloat by the all powerful university, but what Niemans and Kerkerian discover will horrify even these two hardened detectives…
The Crimson Rivers starts so well, an intriguing and atmospheric police story that unsettles initially with the gruesomely mutilated bodies, then, once the conspiracy begins, draws you in with a compelling plot.
Where The Crimson Rivers really excels is in its aesthetic department. As with La Haine, director Mathieu Kassovitz creates a striking visual aesthetic - a stunning pallet on which to play out his macabre tale, with blood red playing out against an overwhelmingly snow white landscape. The model effects of the mutilated corpses are unnervingly realistic, with the production team producing the grimmest representation they could - particularly during the opening credits, where the camera investigates and probes every minute detail of the first corpse.
The score is haunting and sits with the big budget aesthetics perfectly, recalling John Carpenter’s classic Halloween, so instantly recognisable as a chilling accompaniment to the horrific events being investigated.
Reno is perfectly cast as the constantly exhausted Commissaire Niemans. It seems Reno has become typecast as a cop, even within his native France, so he’s not really stretching himself. Vincent Cassel, at this time poised on the cusp of international superstardom, deliverers a frantic performance that runs in parallel to Reno’s slow and methodical Niemans. The pair truly gel together onscreen and are a joy to watch playing off each other’s opposite personalities. Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel carry the movie with their performances, but the plot unfortunately does descend into the realm of lunacy.
Thematically drawing heavily on the works of Fincher, De Palma and Hitchcock, The Crimson Rivers makes no apologies for its Hollywood influences, instead it revels in the style, but this sees the early promise descend into a run-of-the-mill Hollywood action movie. Cassel, for his part, is involved in perhaps the most bizarrely out of place scene in the film, a kung-fu battle between himself and a gang of skinheads. This scene, with its use of video game aesthetics, feels so superfluous to the film.
Another problem is that for all the interesting ideas and larger conspiracies alluded to, the film doesn’t deliver with its grand finale - a cop-out that leaves the viewer feeling short changed.
The Crimson Rivers is highly watchable as a popcorn police thriller. It’s just such a pity that the film is let down by its final third after producing an initially compelling plot line. CSA
Film: La Haine
Release date: 27th September 2004
Certificate: 15
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France
From its very conception to its ultimate visualization, La Haine sparked a moral panic that spread across the whole of France. Courting controversy at every juncture, and building up enough political hype prior to its release that a compulsory screening was ordered by the French Prime Minister and his cabinet, La Haine was destined to be a film of great importance.
Based on real events, La Haine focuses on the aftermath of rioting following the death of a young immigrant Parisian in police custody. Choosing not to sensationalize events the story opens as the dust settles, as the flames die out and as people begin to survey the devastation of the previous night and their uncertain future.
The film turns its attentions to the lives of three friends, Vinz, Said and Hubert. All with differing views on the previous nights events, and all with contrasting solutions to the problems they face. They lead us through the building tensions of the film, through the long periods of nothingness, as each side waits for the other to make its move, and through the ordeals they face when the eventual stalemate is broken, which culminates in a heart stopping conclusion that leaves the viewer with a disturbing feeling of injustice, and a burning desire for rebellion and retribution…
Despite its gritty undertones and its overtly political stance, La Haine is a beautifully delicate and poetic film. The rise from stillness to boiling point is emphasized by the starkness of the framing, and the edgy, black-and-white cinematography adds realness to events as they escalate. La Haine is repeatedly interspersed with iconic and almost metaphorical imagery that echo the feel of the film and add a sentimental backdrop to the troubles drawn deeper into the canvas before it.
With some stylish cinematic touches, paying an unspoken homage to several Hollywood directors, the film seals its position as an important counter-culture classic by making itself undeniably fascinating to watch. The contrasting rhythm of pace and stillness definitely adds to the drama as it unfolds.
The underlying use of "Verlan," a punchy, syncopated French street slang, gives an authenticity to its characters, who, despite all being relative newcomers, deliver some of the most fleshed out, realistic portrayals of conflicting youth attitude and ambition. All of them tethered to a touchstone of hopeful, child-like naïveté, while outwardly presenting an arrogant sense of bravado. Vinz (Vincent Cassel) especially offers a disturbing view of a universal teenage mentality when his only response to his police aggressors is violent retaliation. Yet, in contrast, he also displays a deft comic touch with the most realistic impression of a French Robert De Niro you are ever likely to see.
La Haine is a unique film if only for the fact it does not apologize for what it is. It wants you to sit up and take notice, and if it has to shock you into a better realization then it is an effective means to that end.
Without revolution there would be no progress in society, and although outwardly this film has a negative approach it is consistently, underpinned with a feeling of hope and of positive change. The opening dialogue of the film tells the story of a man falling to the ground from a great height. As he falls he says to himself: "So far, so good." This is the underlying basis of the film. It is not a question of how you fall; it is a question of how you land. An eternally optimistic viewpoint, that despite the struggle things can only improve.
There is intelligence to the direction. It forces you to side with its main characters and ultimately agree with their philosophies. You find yourselves supporting the plight of Vinz, Said and Hubert, and join them in their distrust and dislike of the police. Despite Director Mathieu Kassovitz never actually showing any of the riot or evidence that the police were involved in the death of the boy in custody, you find your allegiance lies with the three boys. This is a novel approach in filmmaking, and epitomizes the daring attitude of this movie, and sets it above its contemporaries in style and courage.
Controversial in its content, aggressive in its approach and resilient in its attitude, La Haine breaks the boundaries of political correctness, taking the issues that matter from the streets and presenting them in a way that forces the politicians to take notice, and hopefully affect change by revelation not revolution. There are few films in this class that succeed in compiling a politically motivated, anti police, anarchistic standpoint into an enthralling, stylish piece of poetic imagery.
La Haine is certainly one of the great films of the late 20th century, and ultimately destined to become a cult classic with anyone with an appreciation of powerful, thought provoking and creative filmmaking.
Breathtaking cinema at its very best. Destined to be remembered for its rousing indictment of the French class system and for pushing the boundaries of political opinion, La Haine scores on every level of entertainment and importance. NG
Film: La Haine
Release date: 27th September 2004
Certificate: 15
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France
A dark exploration of the harsh realities of life in suburban Paris shot in stark black-and-white.
The story follows Vinz, Saïd and Hubert in the 24 hours following riots in the Paris suburb where they live, during which their friend Abdel was beaten by police and is now barely alive in intensive care.
The main plotline of the film sees Vinz finding a policeman’s gun lost in the riots and vowing that if Abdel dies he will use it to kill a cop. From the outset, it seems inevitable that Abdel will die which, coupled with Vinz’s growing fantasies, creates an awkward tension with the viewer as if waiting for a bomb to explode.
As the film progresses, the desperation of the characters’ situation becomes more and more apparent. For people on the estates, there are no prospects and no hope. The trio go from area to area either becoming bored or moved on by the police as the struggle against society is emphasised…
The characters of Vinz and Hubert seem to have been modelled purposefully to be polar opposites. There is the sensible down to earth Hubert, who, throughout the film, attempts tirelessly to talk sense into Vinz, who in turn becomes more of an extreme - yearning for blood as he idolises Travis Bickle’s character from Taxi Driver.
Firmly in between these two characters sits Saïd, who acts as a counterpoint joking around and telling stories in an attempt to connect the emotionally charged Vinz and Hubert. The interaction between the characters works really well and the film is superbely acted throughout, with good performances from the supporting cast also, especially within the police force.
The major issue presented in the film is that of police brutality and race within the housing projects the characters live. The fact that the suburbs are such a melting pot of ethnicity shows how poverty and hopelessness really extends beyond such barriers. This is shown perfectly through the coupling of the characters: a Jew, a black and an Arab. All of whom are equal as they are united within the same social boundaries.
Throughout the film, there are hints at the world beyond the suburbs; in a shot where the characters are looking at the Eiffel Tower it seems miles away from the world they inhabit - a romanticised tourist face of Paris, faraway and unattainable to them.
The characters are taunted by the perverse irony of a billboard stating: “The World Is Yours”. Like so many others in their situation, they have no future, no ambition and no real life. They even deface the billboard in an act of futile vandalism, changing it to “The World Is Ours”.
There are some beautiful standout shots used within the film, namely a tracking shot moving through the rooftops of the suburbs, which could only have been filmed with a helicopter. The use of handheld generates a feeling of disorientation and helps to put the viewer right in amongst the action, giving the film a gritty and realistic feel to it.
The fact that it is shot in black-and-white (a decision taken by Kassovitz in post-production) really does enhance the general bleakness of the film, and gives a certain uniqueness that separates it from anything of that time. In the opening scene, real black-and-white footage of riots is used, which, through the cinematography of the film itself, bleeds into the narrative, giving the film historical positioning and, more importantly, purpose.
A fantastically shot and wonderfully acted film flowing with emotion that grips you until the very end. AH
Film: La Haine
Release date: 27th September 2004
Certificate: 15
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France
Drawing from his own experiences, and taking inspiration from the true life story of 17-year-old Zairian Makome M'Bowole, who in 1993 was handcuffed to a radiator and accidently shot by a police officer during a dispute in police custody, director Mathieu Kassovitz paints an unflinching portrait of “Hate”.
La Haine (Hate) follows a day in the life of three young friends living and surviving in the deprived and overcrowded multi-ethnic housing projects otherwise known as the banlieues of Paris.
When Abdel, a prominent member of the neighbourhood, and friend of the three defiant youths, is assaulted by police and hospitalized during a riot, an enraged Vinz swears to kill a member of the police in order to even the score if Abdel dies.
In contrast to the hot-headed and brash Vinz is the aspiring boxer and drug dealer Hubert of African origin. Hubert tries to show Vinz throughout the various events of the day that his criminal deed will not settle their ongoing struggle or earn him the respect he so desperately seeks. Hubert’s only wish is to find a way of gaining enough money to leave behind the violence and poverty of his lack-lustre surroundings.
The last of the trio, naïve Sayid is, at times, the mediator, and provides many of the comical one liners to lift the mood, but ultimately decides to accompany Vinz on his quest for revenge…
Despite taking part in a number of riots himself, and given the source material, the director is careful not to convey all of the police officers in the film as aggressive, brutal and racist, or the young protagonists as innocent and righteous. Instead he subverts our expectations by varying good characteristics with those whom we suppose to be bad and vice versa. For instance, Vinz, Hubert and Sayid may be endearing but they are generally not the most likable characters in film history - they are misogynistic, brash, sexually vulgar and occasionally violent. The police also vary from being overtly racist to being genuinely concerned and empathetic.
La Haine, shot in black-and-white and on location of the Parisian suburbs, is not heavily stylized, which takes the film away from the aesthetically pleasing, nostalgic and romanticized idea of Paris seen in most French Heritage films. It is clear that an equal amount of time has gone into telling a story through mise èn scene, as well as through character development and natural dialogue.
Actual news footage from the riots occurring in France during the 1990s appears in the opening sequence of the film, which helps to enhance the element of realism. This technique also establishes the film’s social context, particularly the continuing breakdown of French society due to the ongoing problems existing between marginalized second generation migrants and right-wing activists concerned by the nation’s growing multi-ethnic identity.
La Haine isn’t just another film structured on the growing tensions between the police and multi-ethnic youth; it also addresses the characters’ ability to make the right choice in the face of adversity. Take for example Vinz, the most outwardly violent of the three friends is constantly being confronted by his own inner-conflict, as well as with those around him - until the end of the film, it is unknown whether or not Vinz will follow through with shooting a cop.
It is clear as the film draws to an end that the young protagonists are struggling to find an identity within a place which labels them as deviant and illegitimate.
La Haine is an altogether brutally breathtaking film. The music, scenery and narrative work effectively in representing the cultural diversity and growing tensions within the film, and a once hostile and violent French society. TA
