River 2015 is a six-part British miniseries about a London detective’s attempts to find his partner’s killer.
The plot about the difficult experiences of the death of a partner is not uncommon for criminal dramas. But there has never been a story like River. The thing is, the main character here is a psycho. Not just a strange, depressed and lonely guy, but a person with real serious mental disorders.
John River (whose role was brilliantly played by Stellan Skarsgard) has been communicating with dead people since childhood. No, he's not haunted and he's not a medium. But the dead keep him company and communicate with him. They stay at his house, drive with him in his car and get involved in his work, sharing ideas about himself and his affairs. And the dead are not always happy with him.
This does not go unnoticed by others. John River occasionally talks to himself and even waving his arms around.
But he is one of the most effective detectives, his partner recently died and so he is allowed to continue to work and find the perpetrator of the crime.
During the six episodes, the persons involved in the death of the partner will be consistently restored. John River learns a lot about his colleague and her secret affairs. Although River is a detective, it is also a psychological drama. A drama about unrealized love, about loneliness and the struggle of a person for the opportunity to preserve his own mind.
It's easy to go crazy. And sometimes only a strong-willed decision to live and be part of society separates a person from a psychiatric clinic. In this sense, “River” strongly echoes other projects of showrunner project Abi Morgan, who wrote the scripts for “Iron Lady” in 2011 (about an elderly Margaret Thatcher, communicating with her late husband) and “Shame” in 2011 (about a man suffering from sex addiction).
River is a very sad story, not embellishing reality. On the contrary, it reveals the sadness of everyday life. Almost no one here feels happy. But for all its pessimism, this series elevates and celebrates the value of family and love. Is there anything more important than family and loved ones? "River" clearly answers no.
If you loved the TV series “Crash” and “Happy Valley”, then surely you will be very happy to watch “River”.
I must confess right away: I prefer actions and friendly chatter to self-digging and self-suffering. So three-quarters of Rivera's screen time passed me by. I do not understand the pleasure of watching a man suffer and suffer. Your suffering is not enough, want to join the fictional screen? But if you like to follow the quirks of the inner world of unhappy people, then River is the right one. The quirks here are very bizarre, coolly played and flawlessly filmed. And all the characters are deeply unhappy.
Inspector River doesn't drink, he's more or less social, he doesn't go around. And yet, in terms of the size of cockroaches in the head, he is quite worthy to stand on a par with his Scandinavian colleagues - alcoholic Harry Hall, autistic Saga Noren and battered slut Martin Rude: he talks to the dead. With a beloved partner with a hole in the half of the skull, with a soft-boiled sticker, with a maniac executed a hundred years ago, with a suicide girl. River sees them, hears them and sometimes even tries to give individual ghosts in the face.
Demons defeat River at home, at work, in public, in the car. They give him solutions and constantly touch the wounds in his soul. If I was a fan of psychodrama, then all six episodes rattled with excitement, so well done. I cannot help but admire the writer and directors of the series. Very, very good work!
To my great regret, I squandered most of the scenes with the spirits of the dead. Maybe after a while, I’ll enjoy it. But the first time I saw it, I was pushing the plot forward — who, who is the killer? — leaving behind River’s hopeless loneliness, the hopeless life of London’s East End, and hopeless family tragedies. The word "hopeless" perfectly conveys the mood of the series. The gray-blue scale of the frame and the minor of the musical theme significantly add to the hopelessness of the ghetto, from which there is no way out, but only a slope along which you slide lower and deeper. Even the outcome of the investigation is hopeless. It seems that the killer has been found and the instigators of the murder have been exposed, but this only adds hopelessness to the total collapse of several decent British families. Everything is so hopeless that the bravura ending with reconciliations and reunions seems completely false. Six episodes of such quality noir simply cannot end with a dance of love and happiness. I love to love, are you serious?
It’s time to ask – is there a detective in this stream of suffering and self-digging? It turns out that there is, and very good. Real detective work, when investigators draw a lead for a lead, work out version after version, methodically work out the evidence and eventually find the causes of the murder, and the customers, and the killer himself. Everything is logical, consistent and only with a little insight. Of course, Inspector Barnaby (' Purely English Murder') would have handled this case in one episode, at most two, so he is an unbeatable British gentleman, not a Swedish immigrant with the deepest childhood traumas.
I got a lot of fun and will definitely review again, without rewinding, savoring the work of the actors, the writer and the crew. Very good show. Very. Just a little like that... with features.
The film caught me from the first minute and never let go again. Stellan Skarsgård's amazing performance as a police officer. It is interesting to watch him: a minimum of words, all in itself, does not open to anyone, buttoned tightly on ' all buttons ' but does his job perfectly, crime detection is 80%.
Skarsgård alone with facial expressions and movements is able to convey the inner world of River. Although he is no longer young, his height, stature, muscularity and charm remained with him.
River undergoes a psychological test in connection with the murder of his partner, a loved one, the only person close to him. And here we will learn, in a session with a psychiatrist, why he is so private, why he has no friends, as he ended up in London.
The film shocked, the main character was so close, his suffering (about which no one knows), his alienation from the on-duty phrases, he is not like everyone else, but that is what he is interesting, that is what he hooked. I would give the Best Actor award to Stellan Skarsgard.
Bad is the detective who does not suffer from mental disorders.
I don’t remember how I got to this detective, but by my preferences everything converges: detective, season 1, mental disorder (albeit cliché), mind games.
But you know, it feels like you're looking and you don't fucking believe, you don't get sucked in, you don't feel the atmosphere. Not really. That's not true here. I felt the atmosphere. The atmosphere of an endlessly heavy series, which, let’s be frank, can be laid in 2.5 hours without losing anything.
Well, look, we have 6 episodes where a police officer was killed. Her partner is terribly worried and his disorder worsens. He sees people, communicates with them. Joking, going to lunch. Do you know how others react to this? Well, you know, everyone has their flaws. Someone is late, someone uses creepy spirits, someone sees ghosts. Or are you a dirty phantom after all?
But seriously, people's reactions are no less adequate than John River talking to the dead. In the moments when it really becomes dangerous for others, the maximum we achieve as a reaction will be:
- Are you okay?
But that's fine. Let's move on to the second.
It’s that for the first few episodes, River is trying to unravel other crimes with his new partner. And, of course, he does it in between. Now seriously. You look at the way D. River leads, his age. Do you see him as someone who is on Facebook? Which is trying to view and improve ' deleted material' from the camera. A person who, when it is necessary to type (according to the classics) lowers his eyes and with one index finger of his right hand begins to write on the keyboard. This man guessed to flip through the posts of the girl, but I am not sure that he would in principle remember about FB.
And you know what I didn’t like the most?
That it wasn't a detective. D. River isn't suspicious, he's just really out of his mind. I look at the screen as he looks at the screen and I don't see a man in pain, suspecting everyone. I see a tired man. I see a man who doesn't want to investigate, investigate, or communicate. And by and large, this whole story is not his merit. All that remains of the detective is a pasted wall with photos and ' leads '.
Especially worth noting the amazing relationship with his partner and psychologist.
And also, the ending, you know, I may not have understood it well, but I found it very crumpled and uninteresting and, perhaps, implausible!
“River” is a series that catches from the first frames. Here is the very first episode, the first acquaintance, the first look at the characters and you understand that the series will watch until the end. The scene at the gas station is so sweet and kind, full of chemistry between the characters that you immediately feel for them. After a few minutes everything falls into place and becomes clear.
This series is a classic British drama, not too long, but touching to the heart and extremely multifaceted. In six hours, various aspects are touched upon, from the relationship of the characters to the issue of migrants. Accordingly, it is difficult to break away from viewing, because everything is very clearly woven together, and the picture that the authors want to show us does not disintegrate.
The main character is a constantly reflective policeman who gradually goes mad - everywhere he sees ghosts - mostly victims whose cases he investigates. He looks extremely asocial and apathetic - practically does not talk, behaves sharply with colleagues and very often falls out of reality. River speaks with emptiness, attacks people who seem to him to be creations of fantasies, and makes a mockery of himself in public places. But behind all this lies a heartbreaking drama and a mystery that he has to unravel. And the closer the answer is, the more normal it seems to become. But this is just an illusion.
Stellan Skarskgard played his character perfectly. He embodied absolutely all the features of a versatile character - an apathetic policeman, a character with a personal drama, a psychopath who breaks down and is in love with a ghost. The emotional component of his game is amazing, facial expressions and gestures are beautiful. Stellan belongs to the most famous family of actors. But in fact, the most attention is attracted by the character of Nicholas Walker - this woman is so cute, lively and prickly that from the first frames the eye is fixed on her. Her character loves the song Tina Charles "I love to love" - and this composition penetrates the red line in the entire narrative of the series. She meets here and there. Well, the episodes when Stevie (Walker's character) performs it are worthy of all praise. Here, there is what is called “chemistry” – the relationships of the characters are so plausible and dramatic that any dialogue or quarrel between them attracts attention.
But in reality, all this is nothing without a well-written plot and drama. And every episode gets bigger and bigger. As it seemed, an uncomplicated murder leads to a very unexpected finale that makes you think about everything that happened earlier. Throughout each episode, there is an obvious evolution of the character, from series to series, River and his surroundings change, solving the tasks set by him. And all this makes you feel sorry and think with the heroes.
The BBC has given us a beautiful drama that is really catchy, emotional and sympathetic. All conditions are created for this - beautiful characters, a clearly prescribed plot, sharp turns and, most importantly, chemistry.
What “River” means by “chemistry” can be seen very clearly in the final scene, where the main characters dance to “I love to love” and before that, Detective Stevenson says:
"Come on, psycho"
The evaluation of this mini-series depends on the point of view of it. If you think of him as a detective, the detective is pretty weak. The plot strictly follows the canons of the genre established (and deconstructed!) by Agatha Christie. I can’t explain it, it will be spoilers. But as Detective River is banal. If you consider “River” a drama or a psychological thriller, then this is a completely different matter! There are many colorful characters, a hero with unusual psychological problems, side storylines, social problems - in a word, food for thought abounds. The series deals with the themes of migrants, and the mores of the mafia, and important issues of psychology - overcoming loss, fighting isolation and loneliness. The story is leisurely, sometimes protracted, without action, but animated by the “glitches” of the main character. As a result, we get a rather curious story about a man who resists evil outside and inside his personality. Sometimes boring, but often atmospheric and emotionally saturated. The main thing in this story is people, if you do not forget about it, it is very interesting to watch. It is worth praising the actors whose efforts created the dramatic intensity of the series - especially the lead actor Stellan Skarsgård, Nicolas Walker, who played the "ghost" of his murdered partner Stevie, as well as Eddie Marsan, who acted as River's personal demon - the spirit of maniac Thomas Cream. Summary: A good criminal psychological drama in half with a mediocre detective. For lovers of neonoir and the dark secrets of the human soul - a very suitable thing. 8 out of 10 Original
A good detective is not only an investigation of a crime, it is also extraordinary life stories, human characters and cultural and everyday details. And then it's very interesting. In the six-part British “River” from Tim Faywell, Jessica Hobbs and Richard Laxton is very interesting to look at the everyday details of British life. As usual: furnishings in apartments, clothes, offices... No matter how artistic the film is, it still reflects life in one way or another, if done honestly. Otherwise, the authors will not believe.
The quality of the detective also depends on the originality of the main character. And here, of course, police River played by Stellan Skarsgard is one of the most interesting examples. In addition to the fact that he is not young, physically not very cool, although he will not give a descent, the main thing is that he, as they say, with cockroaches in his head. He talks to the dead, conducts dialogues with them, which help with investigations and introspection. And he solves his personal problem, trying to find his place in life after the death of his only loved one - Stevie's elderly partner, Jackie Stevenson (Nicola Walker), with whom he worked for twenty years and who never had time to confess his love. And the whole film, the whole investigation, is River's way of realizing that love.
And yes, this is a film about the loneliness of a man who has his own way of looking at life, which does not fit into the usual hustle and bustle, the daily rituals of communication to which Stevie has long taught him. And this is a difficult way to discover a loved one, about whom after his death you learn a lot of things that not only did not know, but that contradicts your own ideas about normal life. And it's hard. And that has to be accepted. And about this acceptance, discoveries, experiences and tells the film.
Strongest drama in the background of the detective. Confused relationships, a reassessment of the world and life is River, a quality detective with quality human stories.
The series River is beautiful at least because it has a non-standard protagonist. I mean, it's easy to sympathize or hate when the character is played by Matthew McConaughey or Colin Farrell. You know, look at it. (This is mostly about girls.) And here's a not-so-young, not-so-attractive River police officer played by Swede Stellan Skarsgard. Single, not very well-groomed. And with cockroaches in his head. He hears voices, sees ghosts. The souls of those killed follow him. Talking to them, again. Psycho, in short. But a psycho refined. For justice and against criminals. There is, of course, a woman - a psychiatrist, as without it.
River is a cry of loneliness. Unfulfilled love. But screaming. No snot. Manly stingy. It looks like a breath. Only six episodes. Or eight? Well, not much. Which is beautiful. Because the series doesn't turn into
endless soap. At the same time – a strong detective story. River investigates the murder of his partner, Stevie, who died before his eyes. A woman is also not so much as Marilyn Monroe, not quite young and outwardly so ordinary that it would seem – what passions there can be... but here!
River was sure that Stevie had no secrets from him - they were in the same car every day, chewing dry fast food from one plastic box, drinking iced coffee from one glass. And he knows all about Stevie, and he doesn't expect any surprises. Stevie dies, and it turns out that River was not the man he knew. I did. I loved him desperately. Never had time to confess.
"River" are living convex characters. And a little thrash. But just a little. You won't even notice.
Police officer Jackie Stevenson was killed in front of her partner, John River. For John, she's more than a colleague, so solving her murder becomes a personal matter. John is a great policeman, shrewd, corrosive and...having big mental problems. The dead pursue John, pour out his soul, give advice, ask for help. Will River overcome his ailment and find Jackie's killer?
Authors who create in the genre of detective, accustomed us to the fact that there are no normal people among detectives. Drinking and expanding cop (Harry Hole from Nesbø), gracefully waving a whole fan of mental disorders Saga Noren (Bridge) with a sticker - a partner who has a nice habit of reporting to the ghost of his wife about another happy girl, sociopath Sherlock and a whole horde of defective, sloppy, mentally ill detectives famously reveal intricate crimes. To be healthy now is not fashionable, do you not suffer even a mild form of schizophrenia? You are not in the trend, ashamed!
With a southerly wind, River easily distinguishes darkness from reality, looking for new leads, but to his trouble, the suspects die one by one, replenishing the collection of ghosts - the detective's interlocutors, the trail leading to the killer ends, causing the police to trample on the spot. The moment the true killer is discovered, the police procedural grows to the extent of an ancient tragedy. Writer Abi Morgan masterfully performs variations on the theme “find the key to the locked box”. The trick is that the key (throughout the film) lies in the most visible place, and therefore invisible.
From a detective point of view, everything is brilliant, but the fact is that River is not just a detective. This film is a very personal, intimate statement on the subject of loneliness and unrequited love. From the first minutes of the film, from the moment River and Stevie sing along to the sorceress Tina Charles, comes the realization that they are connected by something more than just a friendly relationship. The piercing, physically painful karaoke scene with River, the final dance and the declaration of love are so pure, beautiful, unusual that you want to scream with delight. First, a slight chill runs through the skin, then tremors in the hands and feet begin, and to the final credits only a feeling of devastation and cleansing remains. A real catharsis.
River is desperate, cosmically alone. The only person close is Stevie's partner. River thinks that he knows her well, but gradually it turns out that she is a complete stranger to him with many secrets, secrets carefully hidden in the dark corners of the soul. River loves her alive, continues to love her after her death, this feeling guides his actions, guides and gives strength. Nicolas Walker (Stevey) – not to say that she is an insecure woman, rather an amateur (where to find one is the task), a drunken face, under the eyes of bags of experienced drunkard, an obscene smile, and “teeth, many teeth” (River’s words). We see her through the eyes of River, and she is beautiful, it is impossible not to love, that is truly - not beautiful is loved, but beloved is loved.
Stellan Skarsgard as River shows that there are no boundaries or horizons for him. He can be tough and rational, and after a minute in his eyes, frank madness splashes, he is pathetic and broken. Sentimentality is replaced by fits of rage, it can be defenseless and dangerous at the same time. He's a disgusting singer, he's a monstrous dancer, but those little flaws make him even more charming. "River" is a brilliant benefit of Skarsgard.
River's partner after Stevie's death becomes a dull, dwarfish, indigestive camel with the sad eyes of Ayr (Adil Akhtar). Ira is hard to get used to the idea that River sees the dead, talks to them - it is difficult to share the interlocutor with someone invisible. Ira is the voice of reason, a rational being tasked with bringing the eccentric detective back to reality. Eddie Marsan is the complete opposite of Ira, he is a demon raging in River’s mind, the subconscious rushing out, the source of danger and the cause of ridiculous antics, a kind of “black man.”
Bottom line.
Very shrill, very painful, very good.