Customer Reviews

The Red Riding Trilogy - 3-DVD Set ( Red Riding: 1974 / Red Riding: 1980 / Red Riding: 1983 ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

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I bought this 3 DVD set subsequent to reading a rave review if it in the New York Review of Books. I can echo the enthusiastic comments; this BBC (Channel 4) drama is great viewing. Be warned that these gritty, sombre, uncompromising episodes (with three separate directors) are not pleasant viewing and will not appeal to those seeking a "nice night's entertainment".

The 3 episodes are separate but interlinked. The plot mainly revolves around corruption in the Yorkshire police force but interweaves the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (born in Red Riding)and a child murderer. It takes some concentration to understand the roles of the different participating characters and, on occasions, the speech of the actors. The plot becomes clearer as time progresses.

This is British drama at its intelligent best. Great acting, directing and well filmed. This recent production will grip the viewer's interest from beginning to the end. Just be warned not to expect a traditional happy ending.

I was checking out the Movies on Demand last night on cable and discovered that the IFC, "in theaters now," film trilogy "Red Riding 1974," "Red Riding 1980" and "Red Riding 1983" was being offered, on DVD as the entire trilogy, and on cable as invididual films. Although I am not a fan of serial killer films, except, of course, for "Silence of the Lambs," I do like noir - both in literature and movies. So, I gave "Red Riding 1974," a shot and wound up sitting through all 3 films in a row - a nightmarish triple feature - finally getting to sleep at around 4:00 AM - not something I usually do. The experience was somewhat like looking at a car crash - terribly upsetting, but I was unable to look away.

These three films are not for those who want to be entertained. I really cannot remember one moment of levity during the entire time I watched. This first movie in particular has an enormous impact, as it is the introductory piece and I never saw what was coming until it arrived - no usual police procedural here. There is violence, however - not for the faint of heart. As I wrote, I like noir, yet this film makes some of my favorites blanch in comparison! But I remained riveted...and I am no masochist!!

I would like to write about each film separately, but there is not a place for me to review them one at a time - so I will try to give the reader a synopsis of the trilogy. Please understand that by doing this, my review will be unusually long, but hopefully informative.

The "Red Riding" set is based on author David Peace's quartet of novels - truly grim whodunits, complicated by greed, corruption, conspiracy and local politics. The movie is set in gloomy, and seemingly always rainy, northern England, in Leeds, Yorkshire. The mean weather gives the viewer a feeling of foreboding throughout...and rightly so. Cynical, alienated young Eddie Dunford, (brilliantly portrayed by Andrew Garfield), has just been named crime correspondent for the Yorkshire Post. He is ambitious and this is his first major assignment. The new job happens to coincide with the death of his father, but his family obligations take a back seat to his zeal to succeed. He wants to become another Woodward or Bernstein, even as the Watergate scandal is erupting back in the colonies. Yep, Eddie really wants to earn his investigative journalist stripes fast and he is willing to take risks to do so.

Dunford's grim assignment involves the disappearance of 10-year-old Clare Kemplay. "Clare is ten years old. She is fair and has blue eyes and long straight hair." The last time Clare was seen, the day before Eddie gets the case, she was wearing an orange waterproof anorak, a dark blue turtleneck sweater, "pale blue denim trousers with a distinctive eagle motif on the back left pocket and red Wellington boots." Throughout the movie the figure of the little girl appears in sudden blurs with her orange jacket and red boots bright against the northern gloom. Spooky and so sad. Meanwhile, a jaded group of reporters takes bets on whether the child's body will be found by Christmas.

The images of the girl that the viewer sees are the same images that are seared into Eddie's mind after he looks at photographs of the crime scene. He is determined to stick with the case even after he is warned away...heavily-handed warned away.

Dunford's investigation uncovers 2 other similar incidents of young girls who disappeared in the vicinity and met violent ends - both cold cases now. He strongly believes there is a connection between the murders, especially when Clare's strangled and mutilated corpse turns up. No spoiler here. This is usually how disappeared children are found...when they are found. Dunford is determined to solve the murder and also find out who, if anyone, is set on suppressing evidence. He looks to those with power, those in high places, which is where his clues lead him. As Eddie follows his leads he enters a dark, dark world.

In all three films the visuals, the camera work, are extraordinary and really help to set the disturbing mood. The choppy camera movement parallels the choppy dialogue, which is a bit difficult to understand because of the actors' thick Yorkshire accents. I was watching so intently that I literally forced myself to be patient until I could understand much of the local dialect. The photography, especially of the northern rural scenery and urban city-scapes, is exquisite at times - you can almost see every blade of grass blowing in the wind, and the angular compositions of buildings, streets and alleyways - great landscapes, remsembling good paintings!

None of these films are linear. All three are really complex and frequently frenetic. There are flashbacks, flash forwards and black-outs. Minor characters in the first offering, remain so far in the background one barely notices them, become major characters in later films. I strongly advise watching all 3 movies in order. I don't think I could make sense of them viewing them separate and apart.

The cast in "Red Riding 1974": Sean Bean as a local and very powerful businessman, Anthony Flanagan, as a good friend of Eddie's, and Rebecca Hall as Eddie's lover who is also the mother of one of the dead girls, (years after the fact), do a superb job. They really seem so involved - like actual people not actors. And Tony Mooney and Sean Harris play a couple of cops I would never want to run into! The director really captured the feel, the ambiance, of the early 1970's. I was amazed at how easy it was to be transported back in time.

The film was adapted into three feature-length television episodes which aired in 2009. The three segments, (1974, 1980 and 1983), are directed by three different filmmakers. Julian Jarrold, ("Becoming Jane"), is masterful here, in the 1974 version. The screenwriter is Tony Grisoni. Peace's literary quartet is turned into a trilogy. I have no idea why the screenwriter left out one book, unless he combined it with another.

"Red Riding 1980" is perhaps my favorite in the trilogy. The characters here are more developed, and since Part One provided such an excellent background, the storyline is easier to follow. I also became more accustomed to the northern English accent, thus understanding the dialogue was no longer a problem.

The setting is the same, Leeds, Yorkshire, and just as dismal and depressing as the scenario in "Red Riding 1974." Many of the characters reappear here, as they also do in Part 3, and the theme of heinous crime, local politics, corruption and conspiracy permeate this episode also. Here the backdrop, however, does not deal with a series of child abductions and murders, but centers around the "Yorkshire Ripper," (an actual character), and a series of prostitution murders and mutilations.

The local residents are justifiably horrified at the murderer's five year reign of terror. He had killed thirteen women and left seven for dead. The police haven't come up with anything close to solving the crimes and the city's inhabitants are outraged. Stores close early and women are afraid to go out during the day, let alone at night. Assistant Chief Constable Peter Hunter, (Paddy Considine), is brought in to take over the case, infuriating the corrupt and complacent Yorkshire police. Hunter immediately establishes a superior team of 2 other excellent investigators, Manchester detectives John Nolan, (Tony Pitts), and Helen Marshall, (Maxine Peake), to work alongside him. The married Hunter, who has earned a reputation for being "squeaky clean," slipped up once and had a brief affair with Dectective Marshall, his employee, which will come back to haunt them both. These three are to review all previous material concerning the "Ripper," and investigate the ability and motivation of the West Yorkshire Constabulary to solve the murders. Is there a cover-up here? When a friend of Hunter's suddenly becomes the subject of an investigation, and then Hunter becomes the subject of another 'inquiry,' things really begin to happen and the the plot picks up pace. James Marsh, (Academy Award Winner in 2009 for Man On Wire), is the director and again, Tony Grisoni adapts the screenplay from the novel.

Part 3, "Red Riding 1983," directed by Anand Tucker, ("Hilary & Jackie"), is the final act of the British crime trilogy. A ten year-old schoolgirl, Hazel Atkins, has gone missing on her way home from school. The press compares the disappearance to that of Clare Kemplay, found brutally murdered in 1974, almost a decade before. The case remains unsolved. Detective Maurice Jobson, (David Morrissey), is finding he has a conscience, at long last! He can no longer bear the shame of witnessing the web of deception created by the West Yorkshire police, with cover-ups spiraling uncontrollably. The bleak scenario is heightened, and it is in this final film that the material from the first two episodes become unified with the thrid.

This last film is as dark and desperate as the others. The storyline involves a male prostitute, a corrupt lawyer/solicitor, and a debased policeman. The reoccurring characters are all so human - complex people with complex motivations. Many of the same people from the first two episodes return. Again, the violence is quite explicit. There is redemption here, and the viewer reaches an awareness of the ugliness which can lurk beneath the appearance of normality - at least I became aware of this. There is a line which is repeated a few times in the trilogy, "the North, where we do what we want," which manifests the three films.

Director Tucker deserves much crdit for tying up this finale neatly - no loose ends here. While in the first 2 films there was time to develop plot and characters, here the primary business was to create a believable ending, and in this, "Red Riding 1983" succeeds.

"Red Riding 1974, 1980 and 1983" are phenomenal films. I really want to stress, for those inclined to watch - this is not an easy experience - but for me it was worth the ride. Highly recommended for people who love the VERY noir. All three motion pictures are produced by Revolution Films. The trilogy has already been released to theaters in the US in February 2010.
Jana Perskie

Nineteen Seventy-Four: The Red Riding Quartet, Book One (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Nineteen Seventy-Seven: The Red Riding Quartet, Book Two (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Nineteen Eighty: The Red Riding Quartet, Book Three (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Nineteen Eighty-Three: The Red Riding Quartet, Book Four (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Great series, if you liked the books you'll like this. Netflix has it on instant watch. So you dont need to buy it.