Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980

I'm assuming you have watched "Red Riding 1974" before you watch this movie or read this review. I'm saying this, because I will talk about the first part of the trilogy as if you've seen it. So while Garfields character is "gone", we get a new main character played by Paddy Considine. And while many might know him playing comedies, he definitely is up to the task at hand here.

This one feels quite a bit different tonally then the first one. While the characters remain appalling (new ones and the known ones from part one), it still has a dark appeal to those who get involved in it. But through all that, I still felt that it wasn't as good as the first one. I thought the first one was more to the point, whereas this one tries to connect and tell a new story. Still very good and if you have seen the first one, you surely have to see this one too. And as another reviewer said, if you like movies like Zodiac (Finchers one), than you will love this one.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Detective Peter Hunter (Paddy Constantine) is assigned to head a Covert investigation into the West Yorkshire Police's handling on the Yorkshire Ripper case, authorized by the Home Secretary. He handpicks two of the best associates he knows, including one he was once romantically linked with, and the investigation starts. A prostitute, seemingly another Ripper victim, puts a dramatic turn on things when Hunter learns of her history with the head of the police force years ago and this leads to a dramatic twist involving corruption, betrayal and murder.

The Yorkshire Police's handling of the Ripper enquiry was notoriously criticized at the time it was going on, and provides an interesting, if questionable, backdrop for this superior second part of the Red Riding trilogy. The only part of the series to deviate from the original story into something completely different, it's a dour and humourless affair but at least there is a clear and intelligent story to follow here, that doesn't get too lost in deep, dark monologues and moody atmosphere.

In the lead role, Constantine fits the material with a straight laced and serious demeaneur that is matched by the rest of the supporting cast. Hopefully, the relatives of the Ripper's victims didn't find it too disrespectful but this is quite possibly the most well made and gripping part of the story. ***

After the nonstop dark intensity of 1974, 1980 plays things a lot more reserved and close to the chest. Like it's predecessor, this one opens up by throwing us right in the middle of a serial murder case, led this time by Paddy Considine's Peter Hunter, and then slowly delves more into the world of corruption within the Yorkshire police force. Whereas the first film took us into this terrifying world through the eyes of a journalist, here we are right in the middle of the police, studying the corrupt within the force along with those outside of it.

Director James Marsh gives the film a sharp, stated tone that does a great job of putting us in the shoes of Hunter. We suspect everyone and everything, even those closest to him. When he's talking to fellow officers, we feel that all of them are dirty, especially the ones higher up on the ladder. The individual case for this film is the Yorkshire Ripper and the film makes a compelling race for Hunter and his team to bring this man to justice. However, the more interesting aspect of the film is when we get to see Hunter dealing with the corruption within the force.

After the climatic events that concluded 1974, we see that Hunter was the one who investigated the epic shootout and made a lot of enemies when he dug into corruption within the force. There is always this looming danger surrounding Hunter throughout and Considine plays his brave paranoia expertly. He keeps his emotions just under the surface, a very reserved protagonist to counteract Andrew Garfield's explosive one in the first feature. The film as a whole is much more subdued than 1974 and it works well.

1980 is a real slow-burner, which makes the picture slightly less compelling at the start but builds and builds into a final act that is intensely gripping. The final fifteen minutes had my heart racing like a maniac, with a powerful final twist. It's left me very hungry for more, I'm eagerly looking forward to finishing the trilogy.

A team of investigators attempt to stop a serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper from claiming his next victim, but uncover something far more terrifying.

I really appreciate this story being set in the time of the Yorkshire Ripper. That gives me something familiar, but not something overdone. And although the focus seems to be on a team of detectives trying to track the Ripper, this is more or less just a jumping off point, because it never seems like the story is heading towards a resolution at a quick pace.

(In real life, West Yorkshire Police were criticised for the time they took in apprehending the real killer, despite interviewing him nine times during the murder hunt. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, they were having to handle an exceptional volume of information, some of it misleading, including a hoax recorded message and letters purporting to be from the "Ripper". So the pace is not inaccurate.) This is a good film, but somehow never seems to reach the level of part one. This may be my bias, though, as I prefer journalists over detectives... but even the feel is off. It seems like James marsh was going in and out of documentary mode, while the previous film just wanted to tell a good story.

At last, some intelligent, challenging, original drama. Difficult at times? Yes, but that makes it stay with you. Channel 4 have become known for reality TV like Big Brother and way too many 'lifestyle' shows, they never brought 'The Wire', they've lost their way. But this is such a step in the right direction, David Peace is the outstanding British crime writer of his generation, prior to Red Riding being screened, I'd read '1974', 'GB84' and 'The Damned United'. Now I'm reading the one from the 'Red Riding' Trilogy not adapted, '1977'.

So I at least knew any adaptation would not be your conventional cop show, despite this, all these three films screened set a benchmark. The acting is superb, though it's fiction intertwined with fact, they pull it off.

At the start of this film, Warren Clarke as senior cop Molloy, monologues to camera, almost it seems in a trance, reasoning, appealing to the Yorkshire Ripper, trying to understand and almost plead with him. Like a star shell in my head, I recalled the senior policeman in the real Ripper investigation, George Oldfield, doing something not that different on national TV, 30 years ago. He was being broken by his failure after years and with bodies piling up, to catch the Ripper, he would stake everything of the tape and letters from the 'Ripper' taunting him.

They were hoaxes, the completely different accent on the tape caused the Police to let the real Ripper slip through their fingers at least once. A couple of years ago, DNA advances caught the Hoaxer over 25 years on-from samples on an envelope he licked to seal in 1978, he was a hopeless alcoholic on the DNA database for minor disorder offences.

The above sounds an unlikely story, so although Red Riding has plots that to many may seem outlandish, real life can be too. There was a culture of corruption, fitting people up and worse, in some British police forces in the 1970's. There was corruption with developers and politicians. David Peace has taken these, added his own touches, to construct what he has called 'Occult Histories', including as in GB84, the 1984/85 miners strike. 'Occult' as in alternative, rather black magic/Satan etc.

What the three films in this trilogy have done, is take the writers vision off the page and onto film in a stunning, memorable and accomplished fashion. A heap of BAFTA's surely await?

And get that DVD out!