Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyate, Francis Magee, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem,
Marc Baylis, Bernard Blancan, Aurelie Eltvedt | Written by Rachid Bouchareb, Zoe Galeron & Olivier Lorelle
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 85 minutes | Directed by Rachid Bouchareb
A sombre drama that has been released to mark the fifth anniversary of the London bombings. If you were in the capital or UK that day you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing and who you were with when the news started being reported. It was one of those shocking, seminal moments you never forget and this movie makes much use of the news footage that was shown as the day unfolded. Seeing it again certainly brings back memories.
But it's chiefly a character driven piece and has two terrific performances to carry it. Brenda Blethyn plays Elizabeth, a widower who lives in Guernsey. Her daughter is studying in London and when Elizabeth calls her on her mobile on July 7 2005 she gets no answer. Later that day she sees the news reports of the terrorist campaign and the carnage caused. Predictably worried, she arrives in London to look for her offspring and stays in her cramped Tottenham flat. There's no sign of the young student anywhere so she sticks up Missing posters of her in the local area.
She is contacted by lanky and weatherbeaten Aftrican Ousmane (Kouyate), a French resident newly arrived in London to find his son who is also missing. The two parents strike up an uneasy alliance - she initially being very mistrustful of him. It transpires that their children are going out with each other and living together, but there is still no sign of them. So they wait for news. And wait. And wait.
And therein lies the flaw with this narrative. The subject matter is obviously very powerful and the setup bringing the characters to the capital is compelling. But there is little for them to actually do once there, and as the story progresses, dramatic tension dissipates. Conflict is raised in the early stages when Elizabeth reports Ousmane to the police and he is tactfully interrogated, but after this the movie is mostly comprised of them look wan and worried wandering around the rainy, drab streets of North London.
Both actors are excellent however. Blethyn's constant concern and increasing hysteris is well conveyed and she gets to pull out all the stops with convincing aplomb. Kouyate is marvellously understated in counterpoint to her. He must be one of the boniest actors ever to step in front of the camera and is wonderfully adept at portraying the turmoil below the surface, keeping everything closed in, communicating his thoughts through his expressive eyes. These two performers are an excellent match in their fish out of water roles and play off each other with considerable skill.
But ultimately, London River is not the emotionally cathartic experience it perhaps wants to be. It fails to move one, and, without giving too much away, is too schematic with a couple of logic loopholes that make one question credibilty. It is however worthy and well intentioned, certainly deserving respect.
EXTRAS ★ Interviews with the cast and crew (15 minutes), and the theatrical trailer.