In the Seventies there was no Twitter, no email, no Google, no mobile phones, cars with sat nav, no bloggers demanding street justice, not even handicams to capture any Rodney King-like events. In the Seventies the board was heavily tilted toward those with connections, muscle, money, power, and a willingness to do what it took to get what you wanted.
If you knew the right guys no-one else need know how you got where you got, just that you wouldn’t be steeping down without consequences.
Corruption, deception and bullying wasn’t the exception, but the expectation.
Red Riding: in the year of our Lord 1974
In all-smoking, all-drinking, all long haired, sideburn rocking, brown trousered Yorkshire in Northern England, a young girl is missing.
Fresh faced journo Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield) is assigned the story and sets eagerly to the task. He theorises that this might not be a one off random occurrence, and wonders if this missing 10 year old girl might be linked to the disappearances of two other girls in the area over recent years.
He shares this possibility with his editor and others, only to find an almost total lack of support for his idea. In fact almost everyone in the area suggests – with varying degrees of force – that Eddie forget the case and move on. The editor and his colleagues tell him to leave well enough alone, the parents of other missing girls don’t want the memories dredged up again, the police are particularly and brutally insistent that he cease his bothersome enquiries post haste.
Even the (quite probably crazy) old woman who tells Eddie that ‘he reeks of death’ is hardly any help.
Then the little girl’s body shows up. Case closed? Eddie doesn’t think so…
The cast is uniformly excellent and lends credibility to what becomes an increasingly bizarre set of events as the plot gradually unfolds. Eddie’s probing instincts and nose for trouble result in him copping far more than his normal share of bumps and bruises as he realises that he might not be able to walk away from the investigation even if he wanted to.
I remember hearing a talk show once that lamented the number of acts of violence against children that were perpetrated against defenceless children in modern times. An unfortunate voice of reason suggested that in fact every decade prior to this one had just as many – if not more – victims of heinous acts, it’s just that most went unreported.
If that is indeed the sad truth, then Red Riding 1974 paints a realistic portrait of one series of events. With a smoky washed out backdrop (even in the precious few scenes where practically the entire cast aren’t lighting up) the truth somehow reveals itself at languid pace even though the film actually moves swiftly. Garfield – like Millennium’s Rapace – is an often magnetic presence even when in repose (and lends hope that the new Spiderman reboot won’t suck so much after all, even though it is by no means necessary).
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. Red Riding… 1974 pains a disturbing picture of the ease with which the unthinkable could be swept under the rug… and those that sought to ensure the real truth was buried with it.
Red Riding: in the Year of our Lord 1980
The Yorkshire Ripper is still on the job six years later, in fact his bodycount has just cracked into the teens.
The police force still have no idea as to his identity and the media and community are hungry for information and results. So in an apparent act of desperation the police give Peter Hunter (Paddy Consodine) the reins of the investigation and carte blanche to do things his way.
His way involves scrapping all theories and ignoring all clues and starting with a clean slate and a fresh set of eyes. Hunter feels that with so many suspects interviewed over the years the chances are the force has already spoken to the Ripper but didn’t realise. He handpicks a small unit to help him delve through the evidence and files in the hope of uncovering the clue or breakthrough that will reveal his identity. His two chosen Lieutenants are John and Helen, both of whom he has worked with before, and Helen more than that.
The trio agree to commit themselves entirely to the case until they make a discovery, staying at a nearby hotel to remain near the headquarters.
The superiors in the operation demand only one inclusion, that of Bob Craven, an officer intimately involved in the investigation from the start and a target of a recent attack that nearly ended his life. Craven is openly sceptical of Hunter and the new direction the investigation has taken, and openly voices his doubts and those of other members of the force who feel that Hunter’s appointment is an unnecessary intrusion and his abandoning of other information a slight on their earlier efforts.
In fact Hunter and co find a decided lack of support at almost every level. There are unfortunate leaks to the media that waylay their progress, and rumours and whispers abound that undermine the operation. Despite this spirit of non-co-operation Hunter decides that one murder from the thirteen stands out as being out of place, that of a hooker named Claire Strachan.
Red Riding… 1983 is a decidedly atypical film in this genre. The film actually deals more with the politics of the various departments within the police force and how they manipulate and massage the course of justice through misinformation and suppression of facts.
There are no courtroom scenes, no monologues about the importance of the case. No car chases, footchases, near misses or cryptic clues or messages from the killer. There isn’t even a big ‘gotcha’ moment when they twig to the identity of the Ripper.
It does have a few twists and turns though, and some characters from …1974 reappear – it wouldn’t be fair to say who. But 1980 is slower, harder to follow and less punchy than the films that bookend it. The fact that it lacks any action sequences or scenes with visual impact until the very end hinder the enjoyment somewhat, but for those who pay attention and keep track of the motives and actions of the myriad characters you will be well rewarded for your patience.
Final rating – 7 / 10. The trilogy sags just a little in the middle as the ‘action’ remains mostly in the office. Not too many classics are set predominantly in the filing room, but Red Riding 1980 is rewarding in other ways.
Red Riding: In the Year of our Lord 1983
The final film in the trilogy looks to bring things altogether and features many familiar faces from the earlier films, some in flashback form, others reappearing on the scene.
Little girls have been going missing in the Yorkshire area for a decade and a half. The latest being a 10 year old named Hazel who vanished on the short route home from school. Her case is eerily similar to an earlier girl’s from almost a decade prior, only her killer is already in prison having admitted culpability for the crime.
The police have been running things their way for so long that wrong seems right. With their authority and methods unchecked they are downright cocky and overt in their corruption. No longer bothering with elaborate cover ups, now it seems that outright lies and misdirection does the same job with less effort.
This outing has no outright ‘hero’ or equivalent, but for the most part follows John Piggott, a slobbish and lazy lawyer who is reluctant to become involved, and Maurice Jobson, a cop involved in the investigation for some years now who it seems is having a crisis of confidence with the methods of his colleagues and the lengths that they take to exert their will.
Let’s just say “Put your hands flat on the table” might mean many things, but in the 70s and 80s in Yorkshire most of them were extremely painful.
There is a medium with the ability to see beyond the norm who proves portentous, flashbacks that help fill in some gaps, and the gay street hustler BJ pops up periodically as he undertakes a pilgrimage of his own.
With so many characters and no obvious ‘Eddie’ style central figure you need to pay attention to proceedings, but while Red Riding …1983 is circuitous and at times confusing, by the conclusion of the film we can see that it was always going somewhere.
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. I liked the first film in the series more, but this is more intricate and layered, and wraps up a meritorious trilogy well.
Final Trilogy Rating – 7.5 / 10. Red Riding is an undiscovered gem. A series not unlike the Millennium trilogy in that it revolves around unlikely atypical central figures thrust into scenarios that frequently threaten their wellbeing and sense of normalcy.
The ‘heroes’ depicted in Red Riding are no human Google/Instagram/calculator with near ninja skills. They are rookie journos with a predilection for flared trousers, cops with differing views of right and wrong, flawed lawyers with otherwise dull lives …
Another example of a series that demands you see all three entries before casting judgment. For me that verdict is that the Red Riding trilogy is definitely a case of the whole being worth more than the sum of it’s parts.
I realised about half way through the 1983 edition that I shouldn’t be deriving such satisfaction from films revolving around pedophilia, violence and corruption. It is a credit to the writing and acting that these themes are so vital to the storyline, and despite the troubling material the series remains so fascinating and worth your time.
