By Jonathan Romney
Dir: Rachid Bouchareb. Algeria-France-UK. 2009. 87mins.
Brenda Blethyn and Malian actor Sotigui Kouyate are the affecting duo at the centre of London River, Rachid Bouchareb's spare, astute drama about how conflict can sometimes draw people together. The film world is currently flooded with global-themed dramas about people from different walks of life finding their destinies linked, but Bouchareb's film is an exemplary specimen of this strain, a tender-but-tough piece of realism that is also in the premium class of London dramas, from Blow-Up on, made by visiting film-makers. Timely and universal themes, plus emotional directness, should ensure healthy sales potential alongside solid audiences at home in the UK, while festivals should come knocking.
After his commanding reinvention of the World War 2 epic in Days Of Glory, Bouchareb returns to a smaller canvas, persuasively channelling the British-realist mode of Ken Loach et al. Mainly (and plausibly) French-language despite its UK setting, the film is set against the background of the July 2005 London bomb attacks. In Guernsey, churchgoing widow Elizabeth Sommers (Blethyn), who runs a small farm, hears the news about the bombs and starts to worry about daughter Jane, a student in the city.
Also concerned is Ousmane, an elderly African forester working in France, who sets out to find his long-estranged son Ali. Both characters arrive in the Haringey/Finsbury Park area of North London, and make inquiries in different directions – Elizabeth going to the police and adding Jane's photo to the hundreds of 'missing person' notes posted after the bombing, while Ousmane is helped by a sympathetic Muslim community leader (Bouajila).
A piece of photographic evidence unites the two searchers, and although Elizabeth initially gives Ousmane a suspicious brush-off, the two prove to have more in common than either had imagined.
Dramatically spare, the film avoids the expected clichés about racial and cultural misunderstanding. Elizabeth's wariness when exposed to London's multi-ethnic world is concisely described, her Guernsey background setting her up convincingly as a middle-Englander who has had little exposure to other races. She is frazzled at meeting possibly her first Muslims and uncomprehending when she learns her daughter was studying Arabic – "I mean, who speaks Arabic?" – but her confusion is subtly portrayed, without targeting the character as a racist.
Very much downplaying the part, slowly building the character of Elizabeth as she discovers the complicated new world around her, Blethyn offers her strongest lead performance since Secrets And Lies. Meanwhile, veteran Kouyaté – who worked with Bouchareb in 2001's Little Senegal – is a stately and immensely commanding presence, interacting with tender empathy in his scenes with Blethyn. Other Bouchareb alumni Bouajila and Roschdy Zem make their presence felt, as does Francis Magee as a policeman. TV footage is used to sharp effect, and unspectacular North London locations, shot in downbeat realist mode by Jérôme Almeras, build up an authentic sense of place, suggesting Bouchareb has more than done his homework. Armand Amar's crisp, jazzy score is another considerable plus point.
Production companies
3B Productions
The Bureau
Arte France Cinema
Tassili Films
Producers
Jean Bréhat
Rachid Bouchareb
Screenplay
Rachid Bouchareb
Olivier Lorelle
Zoé Galeron
Cinematography
Jérôme Alméras
Production design
Jean Marc Tran Tan Bâ
Music
Armand Amar
Editor
Yannick Kergoat
Brenda Blethyn
Sotigui Kouyate
Roschdy Zem
Sami Bouajila
Francis Magee
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London River
(Algeria-France-U.K.) An Arte, 3B Prods (France)/The Bureau (U.K.)/Tassili Films (Algeria) production, with the participation of France 3, Region PACA, ACSE, CNC. (International sales: Elle Driver, Paris.) Produced by Jean Brehat. Co-producers, Bertrand Faivre, Matthieu de Braconnier. Directed by Rachid Bouchareb. Screenplay by Bouchareb, Zoe Galeron, Olivier Lorelle.
With: Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyate, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan, Marc Bayliss, Gareth Randall, Aurelie Eltvedt, Francis Magee, Mathieu Schiffman, Brelotte Sow, Alexandra Thyviane.
Fate and the 2005 London bombings throw an English widow and an African forester together in “London River,” a stripped-down two-hander from Rachid Bouchareb trumpeting political correctness far louder than this intimate drama can stand. Though the ending proves effective, Bouchareb and his co-scripters employ simplistic stereotypes and obvious counterpoints that shouldn’t need to be spelled out so literally. Still, with its heart in the right place and the majestic presence of Malian thesper Sotigui Kouyate, pic will get a decent international run before heading for its originally skedded home on the smallscreen.
Opener establishes the parallels as clearly as if they were written on a blackboard: Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) is a Falkland Islands war widow in Guernsey first seen heading to church, where she hears a sermon about loving your neighbor. Ousmane (Kouyate, star of Bouchareb’s “Little Senegal”) is an African glimpsed in a Provencal olive grove praying towards Mecca.
Unable to reach her daughter Jane following news of the London bombings, Elisabeth takes the ferry to the capital. The city’s multicultural vibe proves disconcerting, and she has a hard time believing the local shopkeeper (Roschdy Zem, in a cameo) when he assures her he’s her daughter’s landlord. Jane hasn’t been seen since the bombings, and the police are vaguely sympathetic but not very helpful.
Ousmane is also in London, sent by his estranged wife to look for their son Ali despite the fact that Ousmane left the family when his child was six; in addition, he speaks no English and has no clue where his son lives. A visit to the local imam (Sami Bouajila) is a good start, and eventually he’s given a recent photo of Ali, taken in an Arabic-language class. Ousmane recognizes the girl next to his son from a missing persons leaflet of Jane, and calls Elisabeth, who has difficulty believing her daughter would be taking Arabic let alone be in a relationship with a young African Muslim.
Considering how often Elisabeth and Ousmane intersect, auds can be forgiven for thinking London is about the size of Bedford Falls. As concern grows, Elisabeth begins to cast off her knee-jerk prejudices in the wake of possible tragedy, eventually uttering the rather tired line, “Our lives aren’t all that different.”
Even given Elisabeth’s sheltered Channel Islands life it’s hard to swallow some of the standard-issue comments Blethyn is forced to utter, and certainly in larger metropolises some lines may produce titters. Given that a wounded puppy couldn’t attract more sympathy than the stately, sad-eyed Ousmane, her extended coldness in the face of shared misfortune feels too much like formulaic scripting and not enough like life. Moments when the thesps were allowed to improvise, especially in the final scenes, feel considerably more genuine.
The desired contrast between the two characters is heightened by Blethyn’s and Kouyate’s widely divergent acting styles, though it’s a difference that works to the theme’s advantage. If at times Elisabeth seems like a role out of a minor Mike Leigh film, the blame is entirely on the script. Kouyate, his thin, rigid posture like the elm trees his character protects, radiates an irresistible wordless solidity that goes a long way to keeping everything grounded.
Shifting completely away from the scope and sweep of his award-winning “Days of Glory,” Bouchareb worked with a tight budget and a small crew, utilizing handheld cameras to successfully convey a sense of both intimacy and quiet anxiety. Armand Amar’s pleasant jazz-light compositions don’t always fit the tone.
Camera (color, 16-to-35mm), Jerome Almeras; editor, Yannick Kergoat; music, Armand Amar; production designer, Jean Marc Tran Tan Ba; costume designer, Karine Serrano; sound (DTS stereo), Philippe Lecoeur, Franck Rubio; Oliver Walczak; associate producer, Muriel Merlin; line producers, Claire Bodechon, Victoria Goodall; assistant director, Mathieu Schiffman. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 10, 2009. Running time: 87 MIN. (French, English, Arabic dialogue.)
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