The Red Riding Trilogy

THE RED RIDING TRILOGY

Based on the novels by David Peace, The Red Riding Trilogy was produced for Channel 4 in the U.K. last year and is getting a theatrical distribution in the U.S. As a mini-series, at least as far as scope and theme, it most resembles the U.S. piece "Chiefs" (1983), starring Charlton Heston, Brad Davis, Billy Dee Williams, Stephen Collins and Keith Carradine, based on a Stuart Woods novel of the same name, which followed three generations of Police Chiefs in a small Southern town, with the rampage and mystery of one serial child-abductor and murderer tying the years and Chiefs together. While that one is quite a good TV movie for its day, it is very dated in many ways now, certainly things like production value and the look of it, which definitely place it as a TV project from that period. I haven't read Peace’s novels, using the real Yorkshire Ripper case of the '70s and early 1980s as a spine for its mostly fictional characters as each subsequent investigator gets a little closer to the truth. The mini-series/movie trilogy doesn't adapt the second of the books for some reason, but otherwise follows the arc of the murders and plenty of Police corruption in that small town from the years 1974 to 1983. In terms of brutality and how it tackles the intricate levels of corruption its most like James Ellroy's quartet of Los Angeles novels, the best movie adaptation thus far being L.A. Confidential (1997). Some natural comparisons can be made with David Fincher's Zodiac as well, especially the first chapter involving the reporter.

With a script adapted by Tony Grisoni (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Tideland) it is an ambitious project and very well realized, with three different directors helming each of the chapters: 1974 by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane), 1980 by James Marsh (Man on Wire, The King) and 1983 by Anand Tucker (Hilary & Jackie, Shopgirl).


The Year of Our Lord 1974

The first chapter starts with a young, cocky reporter for the Yorkshire Post, Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield, Boy A, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) as he tries to move up the ladder at work into the crime beat by covering the story of a local abducted girl, whose body turns up dead, brutalized, and posed with swan wings on her back. Through his investigation he begins to believe that this crime is linked to several others in the area. When he meets the mother (Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Starter for 10) of another missing girl they begin a quick sexual affair, and just as quickly Dunford finds himself the target of the local constabulary. The web of depravity and corruption gets stickier and stickier until Dunford is forced into drastic action.


The Year of Our Lord 1980

The second chapter has an officer from outside the town, Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine, Dead Man's Shoes, In America), sent to oversee the investigation of the Yorkshire Ripper case, a series of grisly murders that have baffled the police for years and put the town in panic. The local police have their own secrets they don't like outsiders getting near, including and especially outsiders who call themselves police. In the atmosphere of distrust and complicity Hunter finds himself little closer to the serial killer but in plenty of danger. The episode concludes with a confession to the Ripper crimes, though it's pretty clear he is only a scapegoat.


The Year of Our Lord 1983

In the final chapter we follow a few characters as all of the strands of depravity and secrets going back to 1974 come to a head. Officer Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey, "Our Mutual Friend", Hilary and Jackie) has been mostly a supporting character in the first two installments, but now we learn of what he's known and why he can no longer accept what's going on in Yorkshire. We also meet John Piggott (Mark Addy, The Full Monty, "The Thin Blue Line") a local lawyer whose late father was an infamous member of the Yorkshire police. He believes a young man accused in the disappearance of another young girl is being framed by the police, and his own snooping along with Jobson's change in conscience lead to the real perpetrator of most of the most grisly goings on in Yorkshire.

Red Riding 1974 GRADE: A
Red Riding 1980 GRADE: A
Red Riding 1983 GRADE: A-



1974 is the most surreal and stylized in many ways and can stand on its own, but the intricate connections build nicely throughout the series until the redemptive finale, and you never know which characters will survive from episode to episode. The directors chosen for the project had little in their filmographies to suggest this is the kind of material they would succeed with, but all do excellent work bringing this very dark and complicated saga to the screen. It is already on DVD in the UK, starting to play theatrically in the U.S. and can also be rented OnDemand.

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I saw this on tv last year, It captures the feel of that time here in the UK really well, very atmospheric. Well recommended.

Thanks for the recommendation, will check it out soon.

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Even though there are three different directors working with three different cinematographers (Rob Hardy, Igor Martinovic and David Higgs), they have a relatively unified vision for recreating the period. Visually they were clearly going for some of the feeling of the best crime and conspiracy thrillers from American cinema in the 1970s, things like The French Connection, Serpico, Klute, The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men. And they made a conscious decision not to fill the soundtrack with pop music of the day or really linger on the elements like cars and clothing (though they are correct).

Very well done, all the way around.

Thanks for posting on this, Holden.

As I said, the third part didn't quite 'do it' for me, but there were extenuating circumstances that probably to blame for that. That said, I see that you thought it was the weakest of the three too, though only slightly.

From memory, I'd rate them A, A-, B but I'm not sure if I'll think the same way when/if I see them again. A very good mini-series though, that I'd recommend to anyone who can 'handle' the material.

Also, specially the first one, reminded me strongly of the stories surrounding Newcastle City Council during the late 60s/early 70s, when the leader T. Dan Smith and other councillors were embroiled in bribery and corruption in land development contracts. That and the remembrance of how the reputation of the police had fallen to an all time low in the 1980s.

Only caught the last two of these unfortunately. Was bleak but compelling stuff. Had no idea they were handled by different teams - felt very cohesive. Powerful acting throughout too - and lots of space afforded them like you say Holds (no clunk-and-click soundtrack, lots of face time etc).

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I've been looking forward to this trilogy for a while and so far it doesn't disappoint. Director Julian Jarrold has come a long way since 'Childrens Ward'! Touching Evil and Cracker are more familiar territory although this is stunningly directed with the style and panache of 'Zodiac' but with a far more interesting story, characters and actors. Yes, the performances from Andrew Garfield and co were terrific. I'm already looking forward to the following film to see how the corrupt coppers move on from this dirty episode and also to see Considine in action in a meaty role once again.

It's one of those films where everything makes sense at the end. Good stuff

I actually never got to see this properly when it was on television. I love my Paddy Considine, who I personally got to meet recently!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (more about that another day) and I saw the advertisements and a few mins of each period, but I just never got round to fully watching them. I'm going to buy them on DVD though at some point.

I, too, wanted to see this and had heard about it because Sean Bean is in one of the episodes (which one?). Thanks for that review, Holden.

It's on Demand here?

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.

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Well, this goes into the "Do they have this on Netflix?" pile. Thanks for the recommendation.

i really liked it (but im from North of England so i fully understood the acsents, lol).
it was really good and had that gritty feeling on 70's/80's england

He's in the first one- 1974, I believe, playing a creepy guy.

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Yes, Bean's character is only in the first episode.

No, Bean's character is in the third one too, HP, but his character has a bigger part in the first.

Yeah, the two brief scenes, flashbacks to 1974 that give a couple pieces of crucial missing information to the mystery. But if they're asking which installment to watch primarily as a Sean Bean fan, it's certainly 1974.


"I wish you had come to us before, Bill. I could have saved you lots of bother."


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Oh, absolutely. If you saw the third part just for Sean Bean, then you'd be pretty disapointed.

Hey, thanks, guys!

Thanks, Holden for that pic.

I had figured I needed to see the first one for Sean; plus, to watch it, I obviously should see the first one. But when I went to check my "On Demand" Menu, they only had the second two listed!

I don't get that.

So the film will be all three parts cut together ? Wikipedia says total runtime is 300 minutes so I'd assume the movie would be bulging out of three hours.

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