DVD - Red Riding - 1983 (Part 3 of the Red Riding Trilogy)

1983 closes out the Red Riding Trilogy in the best way. We pick up with a new character, John Piggot (Mark Addy), a lawyer who is hired to appeal the case of Michael Myshkin (Daniel Mays), the minor character in 1974 that is convicted of murder. Myshkin is mentally disabled, and was obviously used as a patsy to cover up the Yorkshire polices corruption, and the "bad habits" of Bob Craven, the business mogul and child molester from 1974. Piggot delves deep when another child is kidnapped, and this time an officer, Jobson, who destroyed evidence and murdered people in 1974, moves forward to help solve the case and try to redeem himself.

1983 is a fantastic full circle film, and allows the trilogy to be wrapped up in a meaningful way, unlike other contemporary trilogy's like The Matrix. All of the Red Riding films were shot simultaneously, so the actors were allowed to stay in their characters headspace, which, I think, was the most important part of this whole exercise. Like Lord of the Ring's, there was no break for them to walk away and catch their breath, and their ruthlessness, or gentleness, or love, or pure evil shines through from film to film. Red Riding is both harsh and redemptive at the same time, and, simply, one of the best series of films I've ever seen.

DVD - Red Riding - 1980 (Part 2 Of The Red Riding Trilogy)

Red Riding - 1980 takes place a full six years after the events of Red Riding - 1974, and centers around a different series of murders, but interweaves itself into the same story about the corruption in the Yorkshire Police department. In this film, Paddy Considine is Peter Hunter, an investigator brought in to head up a inquiry into a serial killer case. Some of the offenders from the previous film are still present - Molloy, Douglas, Craven, The Priest, and BJ (all from the previous film). Hunter builds up a team to really dig into the murders, which includes a "liaison" to the Yorkshire police in Craven, the willowy cop who, along with Douglas, tortured Andrew Garfield's Dunford in the first film. As the team digs deeper, they find one woman who doesn't fit the bill as someone murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper, and hands are pointing towards the Yorkshire police themselves. The deeper the team digs, the more someone is pushing back. Will Hunter and his team be able to stick it through to the end?

Red Riding - 1980 is one of the best "sequels" I've seen in a long time. The fact that it is not just a retread of the original, but a new film built off of the same skeleton, and weaving in the police corruption of the first one, makes you feel like you're watching a completely different story, but a continuation all at the same time. 1980 is different in its visual style than 1974 as the film had a new director and new cinematographer. Paddy Considine is solid as usual, as well as the rest of the cast. There's not really anything you can complain about here. Can't wait to see the final film in the trilogy, 1983.

DVD - Red Riding - 1974 (Part 1 of the Red Riding Trilogy)

I had been hearing off and on about this series I had to check out, a trilogy of movies from England, and when I saw them come up on Netflix Instant, I thought that now must be a great time. Red Riding is based on a series of, apparently, extremely popular books from England. It is based off of various murders that have occurred in England, and uses that as a backdrop to bring attention to massive corruption in police and government agencies.

The first of these films is labeled as 1974. It follows Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), as a young reporter who, in the midst of a child abduction case, realizes that the little girls disappearance mirrors two other cases over the last couple of years. When he goes investigating, though, the tracks lead to John Dawson (Sean Bean), who is one of the most powerful men in town, and, collaterally, the police force, the government, and even the paper that he works for.

Red Riding - 1974 is a well produced thriller, with Andrew Garfield as a real stand out (this is pre Social Network). While the thick as molasses English accents don't help, the story is, thankfully, easy enough to follow that losing some of the words they say is, on occasion, acceptable. Garfield is put through hell in this film, and that he's able to pull off this character with such nonchalance makes me feel like he has the upper hand on a lot of American actors his age. Sean Bean is not particularly frightening in the film, and maybe that's purposeful, but it felt like his character was a bit of a cliche - the wealthy, powerful guy who does what he wants because he has everyone in his pocket. There's nothing very special about it, which is disappointing, as they could have taken the role in a direction that would have made that character more complex. While Red Riding - 1974 doesn't bring a whole lot that is mind blowing to the genre, it is a well made, and enjoyable, film that features some great performances, and wonderfully muted cinematography.