This movie is a gentle and deep melodrama using the July 2005 terrorist acts as a jumping off point for telling about clashing cultures united in grief. The story is certainly a hard look at racial biases and is strongly backed by Blethyn's character, whose repressed hysteria clashes with Kouyaté's attitude (more similar to a calm resignation). The director has also depicted a very serious and fascinating study on how Londoners were unprepared to react to such an emergency. Overall this is a poignant and insight-filled take on prejudice in post-11/7 London, well acted and directed. There have been other "Londoner" films about the same subject (or about terrorism in the UK) but this is the best by far in my opinion.
18 Reviews
Commendable drama
wellthatswhatithinkanyway21 October 2010
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. ***
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. ***
Breaking the barriers
Prismark1013 July 2015
The tenth anniversary of the 7 July bombings has led to a flurry of programming including the somewhat disappointing and emotionally manipulative A Song for Jenny shown on BBC television.
Rachid Bouchareb who made the award winning Days of Glory has made this curious low budget film just a few years after the atrocities which is a mixture of English, French and Arabic.
Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) is a hard working farmer in Guernsey. After the July bombings she tries to contact her daughter who lives in London but she does not return her calls. Worried she makes her way to London and finds out that she is living in a flat in a predominantly Arab area.
Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate) is an African Muslim working in a forest in France. He has come to London to look for his son who his family back in Africa cannot contact. Ousmane knows little about his son had he had to leave his family behind to work in France. At one point we discover that he believes that his son might had been one of the perpetrators of the London bombings.
Ousmane sees a photo of Elisabeth's daughter and realises that he has a picture of her and his son together and contacts her. Elisabeth is wary and distrustful of Ousmane and calls the police. It looks like the son and daughter were living together and her daughter was also learning Arabic. Elisabeth could not understand why she would be learning Arabic,hanging with a black African boy and living in a French-Arab area of London. Its all confusing to her.
Eventually Elisabeth realises that they are both on the same quest and team up together to look for their respective children. It seems that there is hope that their children are alive and went abroad on the day of the bombings.
Sotigui Kouyate gives Ousmane a quiet dignity, the actor was frail when he made the film but looks imposing with his big presence and dreadlocks. Brenda Blethyn specialises in playing frumps these days and here she very much hits the mark as someone who has grown in an environment a world away from multiculturalism of London.
When she comes to London she is confused especially as she tries to fathom how her daughter ended up in such an alien environment and felt comfortable with it.
The fact she comes from Guernsey helps get over the language barrier as she can communicate with Ousmane in French. Francis Magee plays a police inspector who speaks French in a bizarre Irish/Manx accent.
You always suspect that the film will inflict a sucker punch to the duo. It is just a shame that it took place in such a poor setting of some basement corridor full of pipes that was supposedly a police station.
It is a slow burning and thoughtful piece of two people looking for a glimmer of amongst despair and then dealing with their despair. Its simple premise is a big plus as you get pulled in with their search for their loved ones.
Rachid Bouchareb who made the award winning Days of Glory has made this curious low budget film just a few years after the atrocities which is a mixture of English, French and Arabic.
Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) is a hard working farmer in Guernsey. After the July bombings she tries to contact her daughter who lives in London but she does not return her calls. Worried she makes her way to London and finds out that she is living in a flat in a predominantly Arab area.
Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyate) is an African Muslim working in a forest in France. He has come to London to look for his son who his family back in Africa cannot contact. Ousmane knows little about his son had he had to leave his family behind to work in France. At one point we discover that he believes that his son might had been one of the perpetrators of the London bombings.
Ousmane sees a photo of Elisabeth's daughter and realises that he has a picture of her and his son together and contacts her. Elisabeth is wary and distrustful of Ousmane and calls the police. It looks like the son and daughter were living together and her daughter was also learning Arabic. Elisabeth could not understand why she would be learning Arabic,hanging with a black African boy and living in a French-Arab area of London. Its all confusing to her.
Eventually Elisabeth realises that they are both on the same quest and team up together to look for their respective children. It seems that there is hope that their children are alive and went abroad on the day of the bombings.
Sotigui Kouyate gives Ousmane a quiet dignity, the actor was frail when he made the film but looks imposing with his big presence and dreadlocks. Brenda Blethyn specialises in playing frumps these days and here she very much hits the mark as someone who has grown in an environment a world away from multiculturalism of London.
When she comes to London she is confused especially as she tries to fathom how her daughter ended up in such an alien environment and felt comfortable with it.
The fact she comes from Guernsey helps get over the language barrier as she can communicate with Ousmane in French. Francis Magee plays a police inspector who speaks French in a bizarre Irish/Manx accent.
You always suspect that the film will inflict a sucker punch to the duo. It is just a shame that it took place in such a poor setting of some basement corridor full of pipes that was supposedly a police station.
It is a slow burning and thoughtful piece of two people looking for a glimmer of amongst despair and then dealing with their despair. Its simple premise is a big plus as you get pulled in with their search for their loved ones.
Thoughtful...and respectful,
tim-764-2918565 August 2012
London River is a quietly powerful and thought-provoking drama surrounding the aftermath of the London 7-7-2005 bombings.
Brenda Blethyn, ever-watchable, is entirely believable as the distraught mother who cannot trace her daughter, when she sees news footage of the devastation, from her Guernsey home. On the other side of the coin is elderly, black and dread-locked Sotigui Kouyate, trying to contact his son, whom he walked out on when the boy was six, then having been working in France since.
Both end up searching in London, Blethyn doing the rounds of missing person posters and showing photos to everybody she can, in the hope of any piece of news. The paths of these two unlikely kindred spirits cross when it transpires that their two children may have been living together and taking Arabic classes, through their local mosque.
As you can imagine, there's quite a lot of cross-cultural clashes here, not just the black boy, white girl aspect, but also the Muslim element and the thorny issue, particularly at the time when the film is set; terrorism. Could they have been involved, too? The mother knows her daughter and knows she couldn't have been, but the same could not be said about the father...more food for thought.
There's good solid acting from both - Blethyn typically more blubbery and emotional whilst Kouyate, as the sort of wise old sage, takes things more pragmatically and thoughtfully. It's a strange mix if you were to walk in on the film half-way through; follow it from the start and it seems quite natural.
There's been comment that it's contrived in that Blethyn is suddenly able to speak the native French of Kouyate - I don't find that hard to believe at all, not only is she citizen of Guernsey, where French is their official other language but is also physically much closer to France than the U.K. Also, in the day that a woman of her age was educated, she (& myself) learnt a type of 'schoolboy' French - I could understand much of what was being said from my failed 'O' Level, back 30 years ago.
So, a good drama, for what it is. It certainly won't appeal to all, both in subject matter, nor in its slow-ish, measured pace. But for those who enjoy something a bit different, something that shines a new light, perhaps, on a recent piece of our history, plus the acting, then London River has a lot going for it. I viewed it on BBC1.
Brenda Blethyn, ever-watchable, is entirely believable as the distraught mother who cannot trace her daughter, when she sees news footage of the devastation, from her Guernsey home. On the other side of the coin is elderly, black and dread-locked Sotigui Kouyate, trying to contact his son, whom he walked out on when the boy was six, then having been working in France since.
Both end up searching in London, Blethyn doing the rounds of missing person posters and showing photos to everybody she can, in the hope of any piece of news. The paths of these two unlikely kindred spirits cross when it transpires that their two children may have been living together and taking Arabic classes, through their local mosque.
As you can imagine, there's quite a lot of cross-cultural clashes here, not just the black boy, white girl aspect, but also the Muslim element and the thorny issue, particularly at the time when the film is set; terrorism. Could they have been involved, too? The mother knows her daughter and knows she couldn't have been, but the same could not be said about the father...more food for thought.
There's good solid acting from both - Blethyn typically more blubbery and emotional whilst Kouyate, as the sort of wise old sage, takes things more pragmatically and thoughtfully. It's a strange mix if you were to walk in on the film half-way through; follow it from the start and it seems quite natural.
There's been comment that it's contrived in that Blethyn is suddenly able to speak the native French of Kouyate - I don't find that hard to believe at all, not only is she citizen of Guernsey, where French is their official other language but is also physically much closer to France than the U.K. Also, in the day that a woman of her age was educated, she (& myself) learnt a type of 'schoolboy' French - I could understand much of what was being said from my failed 'O' Level, back 30 years ago.
So, a good drama, for what it is. It certainly won't appeal to all, both in subject matter, nor in its slow-ish, measured pace. But for those who enjoy something a bit different, something that shines a new light, perhaps, on a recent piece of our history, plus the acting, then London River has a lot going for it. I viewed it on BBC1.
London River
Robertung24 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
What does an African Muslim refugee living in France share with a white Christian widow from Great Britain? - The longing search of their missing children after the London bombings in 2005.
With gentle and aesthetic camera movements and slow action progress Rachid Bouchareb portrays two distinct cultures - but as the movie goes on they turn out not to be that different after all. Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyaté) left his six year old son Ali with his wife in Africa to work as a woodsman In France. When he - many years later – gets a call from he's worried wife in Africa telling him that she hasn't heard from their son - now living in London - since the bombings, Ousmane travels to London right away to look for him. While the mystic Ousmane wanders around the desert streets of London for hints and clues about his unknown son he comes across the widowed mother Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) several times – who's more or less doing the same thing concerning her daughter. It sooner turns out that their children know/knew each other and together they search for answers.
London River (2009) is both a thrilling drama and a balanced picture of the suffering families in the shadow of the London terror-attacks. It's the movie that Hollywood unfortunately never got after 9/11.
With gentle and aesthetic camera movements and slow action progress Rachid Bouchareb portrays two distinct cultures - but as the movie goes on they turn out not to be that different after all. Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyaté) left his six year old son Ali with his wife in Africa to work as a woodsman In France. When he - many years later – gets a call from he's worried wife in Africa telling him that she hasn't heard from their son - now living in London - since the bombings, Ousmane travels to London right away to look for him. While the mystic Ousmane wanders around the desert streets of London for hints and clues about his unknown son he comes across the widowed mother Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) several times – who's more or less doing the same thing concerning her daughter. It sooner turns out that their children know/knew each other and together they search for answers.
London River (2009) is both a thrilling drama and a balanced picture of the suffering families in the shadow of the London terror-attacks. It's the movie that Hollywood unfortunately never got after 9/11.
simple and emotional drama about the aftermath of the 7/7 terror attacks
dromasca11 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
By coincidence I got to see this film on a 9/11. I have not seen any of the previous films of Rachid Bouchareb, but I heard a lot about 'Indigenes' and I liked 'Flanders' that he produced. This film is quite low tone, but emotional and direct. In the aftermath of the terror attacks in London two parents look for their children. She is an English farmer widower from a remote island, he is from Africa, a Muslim and guest worker in France. Everything separates the two at first sight - religion, language, race and especially prejudice. They will get together because of the shared fate of their children, and they will go together through the painful phases of inquietude, fear, hope, and despair. They get to know each other, but this does not prevent destiny to hit them. I liked the fact that the film does not try to soften in anyway their paths, and avoided some of the traps that other types of endings or intrigues place in similar movies. Multicultural London filmed in a neutral and yet familiar way is the perfect background of the story that includes some racial tensions elements without insisting too much on them. Without avoiding completely simplification and a feeling of expected this direct approach plays quite well, and is immensely helped by the great acting of the two lead characters, especially Sotigui Kouyaté. This is not the ultimate film about the events that shattered London in July 2005, but rather a simple story about how usual people get are impacted by such events, an efficient and direct movie even if not great cinema.
Doubt is a killer
LazySod22 June 2009
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
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
Heartbreaking and beautiful
elisachristophe21 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I've been sitting here in front of the computer with a blank page open trying to find a way to write about London River that will convey everything it made me feel while watching it.
It is funny to confirm once again that I have no problem in writing about the things I don't like, about what things aren't and all the other negative aspects about any given subject, but once I have to write about the reasons why I like something, why it is great, etc; I blank.
I think a good way to start writing about London River is to say that A) it is the best film (fiction) I have watched at the Festival so far and B) it will be really hard not to spoil anything about the story (so, if you want to be truly surprise you should stop reading now).
London River is the story about a woman and a man whose children go missing after the attacks in London in 2005. The film follows their efforts to find out what happened to them and their struggle to accept the obvious.
The brilliance about London River is that what could have been an over melodramatic film is, instead, very emotionally repressed.
I know that for Brazilians and other Latin-American people, telling such a dramatic story this way might seem odd and, even worse, cold. But it truly isn't. It turns out quite the opposite, in fact.
The very contained direction and script from Rachid Bouchareb ends up making you feel even more for these parents and what they are going through. Their despair is subtle and yet palpable. It involves you and moves you. It is heartbreaking.
Another reason for being the perfect way to tell this story is that the fear and prejudice that permeates British society is a touchy issue. How could it not be? No one likes to admit their faults, but facing it this way without accusations or making it a spectacle (like Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11) is more powerful; it makes you think. It is also a very respectful and honorable way of tackling a very real and present aspect of British life.
If the technical aspects of London River weren't enough to make it a great film, then you can delight and be amazed with Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté performances. They are very honest and beautiful. They will bring tears to your eyes, I guarantee.
On a personal note, I rarely watch a film and am taken aback by the actors to the point that I think they deserve awards, but this time I did. I really hope they get nominated for the major awards. It will be shocking and unfair if they don't.
It is funny to confirm once again that I have no problem in writing about the things I don't like, about what things aren't and all the other negative aspects about any given subject, but once I have to write about the reasons why I like something, why it is great, etc; I blank.
I think a good way to start writing about London River is to say that A) it is the best film (fiction) I have watched at the Festival so far and B) it will be really hard not to spoil anything about the story (so, if you want to be truly surprise you should stop reading now).
London River is the story about a woman and a man whose children go missing after the attacks in London in 2005. The film follows their efforts to find out what happened to them and their struggle to accept the obvious.
The brilliance about London River is that what could have been an over melodramatic film is, instead, very emotionally repressed.
I know that for Brazilians and other Latin-American people, telling such a dramatic story this way might seem odd and, even worse, cold. But it truly isn't. It turns out quite the opposite, in fact.
The very contained direction and script from Rachid Bouchareb ends up making you feel even more for these parents and what they are going through. Their despair is subtle and yet palpable. It involves you and moves you. It is heartbreaking.
Another reason for being the perfect way to tell this story is that the fear and prejudice that permeates British society is a touchy issue. How could it not be? No one likes to admit their faults, but facing it this way without accusations or making it a spectacle (like Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11) is more powerful; it makes you think. It is also a very respectful and honorable way of tackling a very real and present aspect of British life.
If the technical aspects of London River weren't enough to make it a great film, then you can delight and be amazed with Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté performances. They are very honest and beautiful. They will bring tears to your eyes, I guarantee.
On a personal note, I rarely watch a film and am taken aback by the actors to the point that I think they deserve awards, but this time I did. I really hope they get nominated for the major awards. It will be shocking and unfair if they don't.
A Very Fine Film
wrestlergrrl3 March 2012
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.
The discovery of dignity
jandesimpson27 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
POSSIBLE SPOILERS Apart from genres that I don't much care for such as musicals and westerns (John Ford excepted) I don't really have any taboos about what I watch. I generally close my eyes when anyone is about to slash their wrists but that's a matter of personal squeamishness rather than taboo. Provided it has quality, I generally lap up the rest of the film, blood and all. There is however one type of film that I find suspect to the point of avoidance and that is the dramatised account of tragedies and disasters that are so near in time that it casts the viewer into the role of voyeur of people still experiencing tremendous personal grief. Films on 9/11 certainly fall into this category. My sole reason for watching "London River" which deals with the 2005 London terrorist attacks was to catch a performance by Brenda Blethyn, a British actress for whom I have a tremendous admiration. I can only say that my cinema going experience would have been that much the poorer, had I not made this decision, such is the power, sincerity and integrity of this highly charged work. Although the horrendous events of 7/7 are an integral part of the film, it touches on so much more in its presentation of two disparate characters drawn together in a common quest, she a farming widow living on Guernsey, he an African forestry worker from France. In the ordinary way their only remote point of contact, apart from language, would be their proximity to the land, but 7/7 has drawn them to a neighbourhood of North London in their anxiety to discover what might have happened to their children on that terrible day. Even before they meet we are made aware of the woman's deep seated mistrust of other cultures and everything Islamic in particular. Her unease and expressions of bigotry only intensify the more she comes to realise that her daughter may have been cohabiting with a Muslim. Ultimately it is the subtle way that a common tragedy can enable a dignified respect by two people for one another to come about that gives the last half hour of "London River" its tremendous poignancy. The farewell between cinema's possibly most unlikely couple is something very precious and unforgettable
Film maker wants to make you cry
PipAndSqueak17 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Hmm, I was in London on 7.7.05. I was trying to get down the road where the bus was blown up. Does this film cause me to recall how I felt that day, what I saw that day? No. Sorry folks, this is a very thin treatment of a landmark event in London's history. It annoyed me to the same extent that it consciously tried to pull at my heart strings. That's too much. I hate being manipulated like that. I'm being generous not damning this film because the two principal actors give good enough portrayals of the characters despite the poor standard of writing in the script. One of them was constantly reminding me of Giacommetti sculptures - a distraction from the criminal bloopers that had not been cut; e.g. a post September 2007 car registration number clearly visible centre screen for several long seconds. There is no story arc worth mentioning. You know how it's going to end and quite frankly, it's hard to care other than feeling moved by the loss of life. A missed opportunity for something much better.
Two Damaged Souls Searching For Truth
druid333-226 June 2010
In the days following the London train bombings,hundreds of people from England,as well as other parts of Europe scrambled anxiously trying to find out about their loved ones. In this story,we get stories of two single parents in search of their children. There is Elizabeth,a fifty something woman,living as far north of the (so called)big,evil city of London,being perfectly content to work the earth on her farm,while Ousmane,a tall,lanky man of African descent is trying to find out about his estranged son,whom he hasn't seen since he left home to work in France,when his son was only six. Through a series of chance meetings, they both find out that the daughter & son were lovers,living together in London. Both travel there in search of their estranged children. Do they find them & find some kind of closure? Brenda Bleythn (Secrets & Lies)is Elizabeth,a woman who obviously fears the unknown. Mali actor, Sotigue Kouyate is Ousmane,a worry worn man,who just wants to live out his days,tending the Elm trees. Also featuring Francis Magee,Sami Bouajila, Roschady Zem & Marc Baylis. Rachid Bouchareb ('Little Senegal')directs from a screenplay written by Zoe Galeron,Olivier Lorelle & Bouchareb. Cinematography by Jerome Almeras,with editing by Yannick Korgoat. This is a heart breaking,but very well written,directed & acted drama of a woman trying to rise above fear & ignorance & banding together with a stranger who is attempting to find some reasoning in the middle of chaos. As this film has no North American distribution,it may be a bit hard to track down (it has been screened mostly at film festivals,and as far as I know,there is no DVD release available). Spoken in English,and French,Arabic & Bambarra with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains some rather gruesome images of some of the victims of the London train bombings that could be traumatic to young children
Understated and Emotional
michaelr-072179 March 2020
Common ground in shared grief
CutUncut202111 June 2021
London itself is foreign to Elizabeth (Blethyn), let alone the area where her daughter lived, starting with the halal butcher who owns the flat (Roschdy Zem), the kind bearded man who helps her with her phone. Add her growing personal anxiety and London in shock, and the pace is set for mounting grief and anguish. This anchored woman with property represents the diametric opposite of the lanky ageing Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyaté), who lives a quasi-nomadic life, for years far from home working in France, searching for himself perhaps (remissions of remote workers in Europe are how many families survive back home), just as Elizabeth has found herself amid her lettuces and donkeys in Guernsey. Great to see Sami Bouajila again (as the imam in London), he has aged gracefully. Typical of Islam how the youngish imam calls the towering world-weary Senegalese grandfather "my brother". Respect and affection have many faces, and in this case a discipline that eludes many of the Christian faith. In my house hardworking youths from Mali Senegal Guinea and Gambia pray to Allah separately, each with their own method, but the quiet dignity is palpable. As for Elizabeth and Ousmane, lives overlap often unbeknownst to us. The person you have loved now for a decade may have sat opposite you on the bus when you were both teenagers, without your knowing, or served you at the local café. Later the strands of that tapestry of life may reconnect, who knows (photos of missing loved ones taped to walls). With his stick, trying to navigate the panic and bureaucracy of the overloaded hospitals, Ousmane finds solace in walking through the park and stops to "greet" a mock orange in full bloom (he's a forester by profession), breathing in its fragrance. And at nightfall he finds an African-run café, sitting in silence with his tea and watching a confused and confusing world rush by outside the window. The next day he bumps into the imam again who has made inquiries and shows him the photo of the son Ali he last saw at 6 years old. Imagine the feelings of seeing that young face so full of life, and also the fear of being dismissed as obsolete by this youth with his European schooling and career promise. When she finally meets Ali's father, Elizabeth won't even shake the hand he so gracefully offers. Fear of the Other and the unknown is nothing new for him, and he shrugs off her diffidence and responds with infinite patience and even tenderness toward her, seeing her as a parent like himself. She calls the police on this tired old man with the idea that the son might have some involvement in the bombings, and the interrogation presumes the boy is jihadi. We should remember the total chaos and panic in the aftermath of the bombings, the frenetic search for clues, and the possibility of further bombings. In such conditions our suspicion of everything alien to our narrow lives escalates. And so on: the halal butcher who minds his own business just to survive, the islamic police investigator who struggles with his mandate to hassle Muslims. If you deign to see this story, please watch very closely, there are so many subtle touches, including the first time Ousmane comforts Elizabeth with his hand on hers in the travel agency (1:10:20), a gesture extremely rare for a Muslim man. Bouchareb's film is an essay in (in)tolerance. The surge of joy that their children might be holidaying in France segues into the cold corridor of grief at the truth. Momentarily united in hope, suddenly distanced by grief. Impeccable acting on all fronts. No Anniston and Pitt here, just faces in close-up that show the lines of age and real suffering that is life itself. The cinema world will miss Kouyaté's towering majesty.
slow and inevitable
SnoopyStyle16 July 2016
It's July 7, 2005. There is a terrorist bus bombing in London. Widower Elisabeth Sommers (Brenda Blethyn) can't contact her daughter Jane. She travels to London to search for her. African Muslim Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyaté) arrives from France to look for his son Ali. He has not seen him since he was six.
Essentially, the story is mostly known from the start. There is a little reveal but it's not that compelling. The movie has a solid sense of the people of the city. Blethyn is once again the old close-minded woman. It's a tired character that she needs to modify. It's getting repetitive. Otherwise, the acting is solid. The movie is slow because the ending is inevitable. It does give a realistic portrayal of modern London. As a story, it is very predictable.
Essentially, the story is mostly known from the start. There is a little reveal but it's not that compelling. The movie has a solid sense of the people of the city. Blethyn is once again the old close-minded woman. It's a tired character that she needs to modify. It's getting repetitive. Otherwise, the acting is solid. The movie is slow because the ending is inevitable. It does give a realistic portrayal of modern London. As a story, it is very predictable.
"Who speaks Arabic?" "We all do." "Not me."
stephanlinsenhoff1 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
London July 7 2005. Elisabeth, a good woman. a humble churchgoer, respecting the law. Racist? No! Not before 7/7! Alarmed by the reporting on her secure Guernsey and that her daughter does not answer her phone, Elisabeth leaves for the city if everything is well. It is not. She visits her daughter the first time, wondering: "Is this the right address?" - surrounded by Islamic foreign strangers. Her daughters landlord, gives her the key for her daughters flat. During her search she encounters the black African, french speaking Monsieur Ousmane: searching his son Ali. They have to discover that their children, her daughter Jane and his son Ali have an affair, the fathers son living with the mothers daughter in her flat. And her daughter learns Arabic: "Who speaks Arabic?" ask the very British Christian mother: hardly looking at the searching father, and if: 'von oben'. But has eventually to accept the unacceptable, secure at home on her British Island where the different otherness is never an issue; human as she herself: "Our lives aren't that different", she discovers. And that her British daughter, visiting her on her save island last Christmas; she never told: why? The searching mother and the searching father, guided by their children's spirit are searching the other to find themselves otherness. The director: "Most important was the central encounter." Fot the sake when truth is revealed: the mothers heartbreaking break-down and beside her the fate accepting father. Mutual respect and in need for each other when the truth of sorrow has to be shared. No body for the grave. So different their first and last encounter. Passing him, without a single look, leave alone seeing him. A nobody. An then: her embrace. Both return to their duty, the farm and the forest. Not the same: different. Against the backdrop of not only Oslo and Breivik: also the own family's racism ('What would I be on Titanic and as she sank, what would I do?', the closing words of the documentary Titanic & me). Behind color, behind believe, behind we are educated for: never for the encounter in the aftermath of 7/7. Why the London-Oslo-family and other disastrous front mirrors without the back mirror? 'This quest to find their children alive forces them to unite', signals the director Rachid Bouchareb: discovering themselves behind the mask.
Question for anyone who watched London River
plmagee24 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
London River came to my attention while streaming English films on my tv service. I loved it, although sad, and it brought a new awareness to the experience of London's 7/7 terror attacks. The acting was excellent - kudos to all in the movie.
My question regards the title - Why is it called London River? It would help me to know. I'm thinking - because some of the scenes were taken underground? Or under the river? Thank you if you can help.
My question regards the title - Why is it called London River? It would help me to know. I'm thinking - because some of the scenes were taken underground? Or under the river? Thank you if you can help.
The sad event that shocked many
ridi-arahan27 May 2020
What worked:
What didn't work: -the ending was as expected but i think few more scenes could have made it better
Final verdict: Recommended
- performance by the lead actors
- amazing screenplay and storytelling; minute details about the characters and the scenes are taken into attention and well done
What didn't work: -the ending was as expected but i think few more scenes could have made it better
- the title of the movie is ambiguous to me;maybe it's metaphorical I was not so sure about the title
Final verdict: Recommended
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