- Actors: Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyate, Roschdy Zem
- Directors: Rachid Bouchareb
- Format: PAL
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 12
- Studio: Trinity Films
- DVD Release Date: 11 Oct 2010
- Run Time: 83 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B003U7DYL2
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 46,843 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Product Description
London River tells the story of a friendship which develops between two seemingly unconnected people: Elizabeth (Academy Award nominee Brenda Bleythn) and Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate). Both have come to London to search for their children who are missing in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings. Beautifully detailed and movingly realised by Academy Award nominated director Rachid Bouchareb (Days Of Glory), the film convincingly creates a portrait of a multi-ethnic city struggling to come to terms with the terrorist attacks. At its centre it contains a stunning lead performance from Brenda Blethyn hailed by critics as her strongest since she won a best actress Golden Globe for Secrets and Lies.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: London River tells the story of a friendship which develops between two seemingly unconnected people: Elizabeth (Academy Award nominee Brenda Bleythn) and Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate). Both have come to London to search for their children who are missing in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings. Beautifully detailed and movingly realised by Academy Award nominated director Rachid Bouchareb (Days Of Glory), the film convincingly creates a portrait of a multi-ethnic city struggling to come to terms with the terrorist attacks. At its centre it contains a stunning lead performance from Brenda Blethyn hailed by critics as her strongest since she won a best actress Golden Globe for Secrets and Lies. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Berlin International Film Festival, ...London River ( Londra nehri ) ( To potami anamesa mas )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The subject of the London terrorist bombings of 7 July 2005 is one that you would expect to be handled with tact, insight and delicacy, presumably by a director of the likes of Stephen Frears from a script by Hanif Kureishi. What you probably don't expect is a film by a French director whose last movie was a WWII epic from the perspective of French-African Muslim soldiers (Days Of Glory), a director who decides to examine the event in the aftermath, neatly viewing it from the perspective of a Christian mother and a Muslim father. Elisabeth and Ousmané have come separately to the city to look for their children who have gone missing on the day of the bombings, both of them are initially mistrustful of each other, but eventually they realise that they are not so different and it's in their mutual interests to help each other.
That all sounds a little contrived and not a little bleak and depressing, but in reality, it turns out that Rachid Bouchareb's choices and methods are highly effective. Filmed in 2008, while the memory of the bombing was still fresh in the minds of Londoners, Bouchareb worked from nothing more than an outline of a script, soaking in the atmosphere of inner city London and allowing the process of trying to find missing children take its own course rather than come with a predetermined idea of what it ought to be like. Bouchareb would even allow a number of key scenes to be improvised by the actors, convincingly capturing the awkwardness and confusion of two people who don't know each other, who would seem to have little in common, and who are a little mistrustful of each other and of what the other person is going to say or do. But it also takes great actors to make this work and be able to put themselves in the position of parents of missing children, and Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté are both outstanding.
Going through the formalities of looking for a missing person, visiting hospitals, morgues and police stations, the film can initially seem a little plodding, with a grim outcome almost inevitable, but the director makes some good observations and the very fine actors manage to keep the viewer fully engaged in the nature of their predicament, the film reminding us through replayed TV footage of the horror of the day of the bombings. Rather than being heavy-handed then, London River's points about tolerance are well made, the sense (and senselessness) of human loss becoming the overriding theme of the film that gives it a deeper, more intimate and longer-term meaning that any attempt to understand the actions of one terrible day.
That all sounds a little contrived and not a little bleak and depressing, but in reality, it turns out that Rachid Bouchareb's choices and methods are highly effective. Filmed in 2008, while the memory of the bombing was still fresh in the minds of Londoners, Bouchareb worked from nothing more than an outline of a script, soaking in the atmosphere of inner city London and allowing the process of trying to find missing children take its own course rather than come with a predetermined idea of what it ought to be like. Bouchareb would even allow a number of key scenes to be improvised by the actors, convincingly capturing the awkwardness and confusion of two people who don't know each other, who would seem to have little in common, and who are a little mistrustful of each other and of what the other person is going to say or do. But it also takes great actors to make this work and be able to put themselves in the position of parents of missing children, and Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté are both outstanding.
Going through the formalities of looking for a missing person, visiting hospitals, morgues and police stations, the film can initially seem a little plodding, with a grim outcome almost inevitable, but the director makes some good observations and the very fine actors manage to keep the viewer fully engaged in the nature of their predicament, the film reminding us through replayed TV footage of the horror of the day of the bombings. Rather than being heavy-handed then, London River's points about tolerance are well made, the sense (and senselessness) of human loss becoming the overriding theme of the film that gives it a deeper, more intimate and longer-term meaning that any attempt to understand the actions of one terrible day.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I have loved all the film Brenda Blethyn has acted in. And she did not let me down now. She acted beautifully with Sotigiu Kouyate.It was not glamorous stars made loook "ordenary". They were real people.The film was only rated to 4 in the Norwegian papers and did not go very long in the movies. So then I had to buy it, and don't regret it, because this is not a movie you only see once
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have watched that film in tv, then I decided to buy it. This is about understanding the relationships between people professing different religions. Very good, interesting, deep movie.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sombre and penetrating analysis of loss
"London River" offers a sombre and penetrating analysis of humanity, hope, loss and despair, with perhaps, a possibility of reconciliation and redemption through a sharing of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hywel James
Parlez vous francais????
Because if the answer to the above is 'Non' then there is little point in watching this film. The subtitles are sporadic to say the least; occasionally one is thrown in as an... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Andrea Smith
london river
The film itself was good but the quality was terrible it looked liked at 19 70/80's quality film. very disappointed and the subtitles were random instead of consistent so you... Read more
Published 19 months ago by wendlesp
Disappointing
I bought this DVD with great expectation, given the first review - which was very detailed. But for me - the gist of the film was that despite colour, creed, religion and... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jinty
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