The Crimson Rivers
| The Crimson Rivers | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Les Rivières pourpres |
| Directed by | Mathieu Kassovitz |
| Written by | Jean-Christophe Grangé Mathieu Kassovitz |
| Based on | Les Rivières pourpres by Jean-Christophe Grangé |
| Produced by | Alain Goldman |
| Starring | Jean Reno Vincent Cassel |
| Cinematography | Thierry Arbogast |
| Edited by | Maryline Monthieux |
| Music by | Bruno Coulais |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Gaumont Buena Vista International |
Release date |
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Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget |
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| Box office | $60 million |
The Crimson Rivers (French: Les Rivières pourpres) is a 2000 French psychological thriller film starring Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel. The film, which was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, is based on the novel Blood Red Rivers by Jean-Christophe Grangé. The screenplay was written by Grangé and Mathieu Kassovitz.
The film is about two detectives who investigate a series of grisly murders in and around an isolated university campus in a deep valley of the French Alps. With a $25 million budget, the movie went on to gross $60 million from a worldwide theatrical release. Despite its box office success, one of its stars, Vincent Cassel, 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".
A sequel, Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse (Les Rivières pourpres II: Les Anges de l'apocalypse), was released in 2004 and a tv series sequel, titled The Crimson Rivers, aired in 2018.