London River

2009
6.9| 1h27m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 07 December 2011 Released
Producted By: ARTE France Cinéma
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

After traveling to London to check on their missing children in the wake of the 2005 terror attacks on the city, two strangers come to discover their respective children had been living together at the time of the attacks

Genre

Drama, Mystery

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London River (2009) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

Rachid Bouchareb

Production Companies

ARTE France Cinéma

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London River Audience Reviews

Linkshoch Wonderful Movie
Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch
Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
wrestlergrrl We enjoyed this touching film immensely. It was well written, well acted and well directed with a humanist representation of parental love, multiculturalism and xenophobia in today's London. The multilingual aspect was wonderful, and it is possibly more fun to watch it without subtitles so that just like in real life you cannot understand what is being said in languages that you don't speak. Both Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté were excellent with their understated portrayals of parents from very different backgrounds who meet on common ground. The underlying tensions of the plot is developed through the film, which remained believable throughout. Highly recommended.
davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) lives a reclusive life on the shores of Guernsey, until her life is torn apart when she learns of the July 7th terror attacks in London, where her daughter lives. Meanwhile, Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate) is a black Muslim immigrant from France who has also come to London to look for his son, who he has not seen from birth. When he discovers a photo and some contact details, he gets in touch with Elisabeth and they embark on a soul shattering quest to find their flesh and blood that takes them on a journey of discovery and hope, to the gravest depths of despair.In the extras section of the DVD, even Blethyn herself comments on doubts she had about accepting the script for London River, on account of how close it was to the attacks and the official enquiry etc. not coming out. But it's good that she pushed her doubts aside, because her performance is one of the more compelling things about this old fashioned feeling drama, tending to headlines from very recently. With the feel of some TV drama from the early 90s, director Rachid Bouchareb has laced his daring and challenging drama with some personal touches here and there that give it a neat feel of it's own. The execution never hits with it's maximum impact, and it's over too quickly to really make it shine. But the subtle, under-stated performances from the two lead actors and it's realistic feel of a tragedy and the cruelty of life unfolding lift it well above average. ***
Seb A Christian woman (naturally portrayed as evil, deranged, superstitious) and a Muslim man (naturally portrayed as deep, kind, meek) pair up to look for their missing children after some Muslims decide to blow up some commuters.As propaganda goes this is simple stuff that would have looked a bit questionable circa 1930. One is good, the other bad but the bad one can learn from the good one. Don't mind that pile of bodies though, that's just the background.Aside from all that the film is full of lame coincidences and pretty badly written. I'll leave out my opinion of anyone genuinely moved by this movie as I suspect that's what got my last review deleted. If the character roles were reversed though I expect there would be uproar about discrimination and negative portrayal.This is going to appeal to some people because it's saying what they want to hear, that's how propaganda works but it's still a shoddy film whether you like the message or not.
Pascal Zinken (LazySod) Weeks after the terrorist attacks in London a mother calls her daughter, over and over again. She hasn't heard from her in a while and is getting more and more anxious about her, knowing she lived close to where the events took place. When she goes to London to find her she finds a man instead. A man who matches her in one important manner - he is searching for his son. The two of them continue their search together and slowly find out more about themselves and each other.Dark and dreary, depressing and painful. Sometimes people get together for entirely the wrong reason and this is one of these occasions. They connect rather well and play their stories out in a believable way. As they go through their daily routine it becomes all too painfully clear where it will all end - but the real pain of this film is that it ends too quickly. It runs for 87 minutes and could have used another 15 without having grown less intense. The shortness makes it feel a little rushed, but only a little.9 out of 10 steps in the dark