Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983

source: Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983

For the previous two films in this trilogy I had my reservations even though I enjoyed the grim tone and the good performances from a host of recognizable faces. I think part of it was that it felt like maybe there wasn't much behind the atmosphere and grim faces but that this delivery worked in its favor? Perhaps but for sure in this final film the content is really rather exposed as not being up to as much as the critical praise would suggest and ultimately we have a rather unsatisfying conclusion which retrospectively hurts the other films as well. Where the films started out with corruption lurking behind murders, they generally were just about kept believable within the real world context that the films tried to retain. In this final one though it really feels like it gets too big and too serious and I found it hard to get into because it all became such a fiction. The plot here jumps back and forth in time but does so without any warning or signal that it will do so, which did throw me for a few seconds as I tried to figure out why characters who had died seemed to be up and about showing no signs of death. This occurs to fill in details and information to help us with the current plot (a lawyer investigates the original swan-wing killing while a policeman reaches the end of his moral tether) however there is a problem with this structure. The problem is that it feels like we were deliberately kept in the dark – I understand some of it is a mystery which is being revealed but it was known from the first film who did the killings and who was involved in the cover-up and why they did it, so the flashback don't "reveal" so much as flesh out and they do it in a way that made me wonder why such scenes were not in it earlier since I was there at the time. These things distracted me from the biggest annoyance which is that this film connects to the first one but has very little with the second film. The reason I rushed into seeing this third one was the basis of the revelations and twists at the end of the second film and it was disappointing to see that basically the second film would easily have been dropped since it doesn't add a great deal in the middle when viewed in context of the complete trilogy. The irony is that the third film is significantly weaker than the second one. The time-jumping is a little off-balancing although it does work in filling in the character of Maurice at least but I really didn't like the use of the medium as a major plot device – it really clashes with the grim realism thing it had been doing and just seems lazy as a piece of writing. The connections all coming together don't satisfy as they should either – again the bigger they get the less they work and the network is too tight to convince. The performances and the grim atmosphere continue to cover for the weaknesses. Addy is good because at least his performance differs from the majority since he is more innocent and wide-eyed than the grim lot. Morrissey plays the other extreme well but mostly it is dead-eyed tiredness that he does, albeit well. Support from Clarke, Carter and others is good but in some cases they have little to work with in their characters (Mullan in particular). It is a shame then, but this film doesn't come together and it is additionally disappointing since this third film needed to bring the other two to a close and make the trilogy strong. It doesn't do this and instead it feels like the material reaches too far and unravels as it approaches an unsatisfyingly convenient and delivered conclusion. I quite enjoyed the previous two films even though I didn't see what all the critics and IMDbers were raving about – in the light of the third I am even more mystified about why this trilogy got such universal adoration.

!!!!!! SLIGHT SPOILERS TO ALL THREE EPISODES !!!!!! RED RIDING is one of these dramas that comes along heavily hyped before the first episode is broadcast . It's an adaptation of a highly regarded series of novels by David Peace spanning two decades and revolving around police corruption in Yorkshire . It's a realistic enough premise , the problem though is this corruption and police brutality is overplayed and while it may be " grim oop north " you get the feeling you're watching something from a parallel universe . A sort of LIFE ON MARS that's literally taking place on a terraformed Martian landscape The first episode features a twisting , turning gritty plot that ends with a bloodbath in a nightclub . Some of the second episode adds new twists to the previous part but mainly concentrates instead on a new police detective taking over the real life Yorkshire Ripper case . The concluding part of the trilogy then totally ignores part two and leads to an unsatisfactory conclusion It seems wrong criticising a production that involves gritty bone crunching adult drama but RED RIDING proves that if the plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny then no amount of superb cinematography , clever casting , intense acting and compelling dialog can save it . The second part is the best example . Paddy Considine plays Peter Hunter , a detective brought in to investigate the Yorkshire Ripper murders only to find a conspiracy against him . This mirrors real life events and the Ripper investigation is something West Yorkshire police should never feel proud of . Hunter is then written out of the story in an absolutely ridiculous left field way that will have you tuning in to the next episode if only to find out how this plot turn is followed up . With hindsight it's very obvious how the event is going to play out - it's not referred to at all. . There's also an aspect to this episode that made my skin crawl and that is it features the real life serial killer Peter Sutcliffe being used for dramatic purposes Episode three is rather slower paced than the first two episodes and there's something irritating and unsatisfactory about it . Leaving aside that none of it ties in with with the totally disposable part two director Anand Tucker throws a spanner in the works by never making it clear that we're seeing flashbacks to 1974 which had me thinking Sean Bean's character had some how become magically resurrected . This certainly down to the fact that the mis en scene never looks like 1983 Add to that plot lines are never satisfactorily tied up and this audience member felt like he wasted his time watching the trilogy Again I have to repeat I'm loathe to criticise someone making adult bleak drama but RED RIDING falls in to exploitation television . We can believe in corrupt cops beating confessions out of innocent men but to see them running around like a third world death squad liquidating opponents and manipulating events to their own ends as seen here jumps the shark so highly that it's in danger of going out of orbit and landing on the Martian stratosphere

In two words, brutal and disturbing. But also complex, adult, respecting the viewer who wants more than a linear tale with loose ends all strung up very neatly; its a close-up of a society in decay, of a police force that fails to have a moral compass, of some dark perversions lurking where one least expects to find them. The performances are uniformly excellent, and each of the tales, separated by a few years, showcase a specific individual into whose motivations and feelings we are allowed access: a journalist, a federal investigator, a local policeman. Be warned that there are graphic scenes of torture, that often a clue dropped in Part 1 is not picked up until Part 3, that character motivations, like those of our own, are not always crystal clear. There are 300 minutes of intensity, filmed with immediacy if not always clarity, and worth an immersion for the willing viewer.

The seemingly untouchable, corrupt West Yorkshire police, and the true evil mastermind behind the child abductions and murders of the last 14 years, can't resist doing it again. "Red Riding: 1983" sets the story that another young girl has vanished from the same area, nine years earlier. "Red Riding: 1983" cycles back to the terrible events set in motion in "Red Riding: 1974", when a series of young girls went missing and a mentally retarded man, Michael Myshkin (Mays), was wrongfully convicted for the crime. Detective Inspector Maurice Jobson (Morrissey), a regular if mostly background character in the first two films, becomes our first focal point here as a man deeply wrecked by his complicity in the Yorkshire Constabulary's general lawlessness. In 1983, another young girl disappears, and Jobson decides to do some actual police work--and reopening several old cases his colleagues would prefer to keep closed--and sniffing around the likes of series constant Rev. Lawes (Mullan, with the omniscience and eerie stillness of a very dark angel). Simultaneously, in the trilogy's first dual narrative, another lead emerges in the form of John Piggott (Addy), a sad-sack solicitor and Yorkshire native who reluctantly agrees to file an appeal on behalf of Myshkin. Piggott marks the trilogy's most uncomplicated hero. It may come as a surprise that the ending of "Red Riding: 1983" adds a dose of hope to its brackish main course. "Red Riding: 1983" provides a fitting conclusion to a whole that is, in some ways, greater than the sum of its parts." Red Riding" is an effective crime thriller, but it's an even more striking drama about the dark parts of the human soul and man's capacity for inhumanity. The third movie represents the middle ground between the promising-but-uneven" Red Riding: 1974" and its sequel, the shocking and haunting "Red Riding:1980." This time around, there's less in the way of a stand- alone narrative as screenwriter Tony Grisoni, working from the novel by David Peace, stitches closed various plot holes. The finale doesn't answer all of our question, but it provides a sense of closure and clears up a number of nagging questions left over from the previous two segments. What we can take away from all of this is not just an investigation into a series of child murders. This is an in-depth character study of three (or four) main protagonists--as they slowly unfold a ring of corruption surrounding an era of a very specific locale of the UK. As things get "hairy" within each of our main characters' worlds, rather than dig deeper into the case, they instead spend three quarters of the running time of each film digging deeper into their own psych--and begin to like what they see in themselves less and less.

This third part of the mini series presents once more a different genre with this very insightful and philosophical conclusion. The movie is less darker and brutal than the first two ones and talks more about hope than desperation. The movie talks about moral, forgiveness and remorse and presents once more a few new and profound characters. The movie has three main actors and begins with the fact that another young girl has been kidnapped nine years after the last murder. The remorseful cop Maurice Jobson, played by the brilliant David Morissey, wants to stop the insanity and begins to question the corruption, the violence and lies within the police. He falls in love with a clairvoyant and wants to save the kidnapped girl with her while his partners try to find a scapegoat for the new crime. He realizes that he has done some mistakes in his life and wants to change. He is now looking for forgiveness, truth and justice. The second main character is the fat and disillusioned lawyer John Piggott, played in a rather mediocre way by Mark Addy, whose father was one of the corrupt police officers that has been killed in mysterious circumstances, helps after much hesitation the mothers of the two scapegoats that are or have to go to prison for crimes they didn't commit. The third main character is the young and homosexual BJ, brilliantly played by Robert Sheehan, who has escaped from Torkshire and travels around the country to come back for a last act of vengeance. All those three characters come together in a grand finale. But before this conclusion, the story meanders back and forth through space and time and creates connections to the first two movies and even new connections beyond that. Those scenes help to create once more some very diversified and profound characters but it is sometimes difficult to follow this pattern and to understand what is happening right now or in the past. There are many flashbacks and changes of space and time in the movie and that makes it less dynamical and intense to watch than the first two ones. The strong point of the movie are the interesting characters and the fact that many points are explained and many questions are answered to that haven't been before. But I still felt disappointed about the conclusion. It seems too simple to me and I would have liked to have some more original explications, for example concerning the connection of the businessman Dawson to the murders. Because of the conclusion and less intense atmosphere, this third part is the weakest one of the series in my opinion. But I still gave seven stars because of the interesting characters and the fact that almost everything is explained in the conclusion of the movie. The philosophical style of this movie is very interesting but I preferred the drama style of the second or the first movie that was a great film noir and my favourite part of the series. All in all, this trilogy is interesting to watch and really presents three different kinds of a movie and creates connections in between them in an interesting way. Artistically, those series are really well done and most of the actors did an amazing job. But there is a lack of suspense in this slow paced series and the criminal investigations are rather boring. It was a good idea to watch the series, but honestly, I wouldn't but it or watch it again for a while. 1974: 7,5 stars 1980: 7 to 7,5 stars 1983: 7 stars

The last part of the "Red Riding"-Trilogy (I'm assuming you have seen the other two at least), this concludes the story. The real main player here, was a side player in the previous ones (though he did have more to "say" than we might have guessed in those movies). The second guy who has a main role, is a solicitor. And while he is reluctant at first, he seems to get his head around to become more involved. But again as with the other characters throughout the series, there are no real likable characters at hand here. Someone called this an adult approach to the thriller genre. You have to figure out, how you feel about that, of course. You might find it dreadful. On the other hand, this is a great thriller. It just needs it's time to unfold. And all the loose points get together at last ... Though some might be disappointed at what we get served ... I personally still feel, that the first movie was the strongest.

It is now three years since The West Yorkshire Ripper has been (allegedly)caught & disposed from society,but things are no better for the citizens of West Yorkshire. Another disappearance of a young girl has been duly noted. This time,Sgt.Major,Maurice Johnson is on the case to find out just who is the (so called)ripper. This time,he's assisted (against his knowledge)by a sleazy lawyer,named John Piggott,as well as a "New Agey" clairvoyant,figure into it,as well as a wrongly accused,mildly retarded young man falsely accused of the original set of murders,and a mysterious young man just released from prison who is just referred to as B.J. Other elements (rampant police corruption,organized crime,political graft) figure into this to make this final chapter in a triptych a true nail biter,to keep you guessing until the very end. Anand Tucker (Hillary & Jackie,Shopgirl)directs from a screenplay written by Tony Grisoni,adapted from the novel by David Peace. The moody wide screen cinematography is by David Higgs,with precise editing by Trevor Waite. David Morrissey returns as Maurice Jobson,with Warren Clarke,as Bill Molloy,Lisa Howard as Judith Jobson,Sean Bean as John Dawson,and rounding out the rest of the cast (among others)is Chris Walker,Shawn Dooley,Jim Carter,Mark Addy,David Mayes & Robert Sheehan. Not rated by the MPAA,but contains outbursts of strong language,adult content,gruesome images,including brutal police interrogation scenes & violence,as well as much smoking of tobacco & marijuana & drinking of alcohol

A great trilogy that just falls apart in the final act. In the first two films, we followed one protagonist on their mission to bring a killer to justice while also bringing down corruption within the Yorkshire police force. In 1983 however, the narrative fractures into three separate people, two of them having been involved from the start. We follow a member of the force who has for some reason just now decided after ten years of being corrupt and feeling bad about it that he's actually going to do something, a loser lawyer who basically gets yelled at until he tries to save the innocents that have been harmed by this seed of evil and a young male prostitute who has just had enough of all the wicked. The film doesn't have enough time to fully resolve all of it's story lines, but it tries very hard to wrap it all up as efficiently as possible. I admire this in a way (with something like this I'd rather have everything resolved over a lot being left wide open), but as a result the entire thing feels very rushed and a lot of stuff comes seemingly out of nowhere to help tie it all up in a neat bow. Aside from the whole thing being very rushed and all over the place, the actual narrative structure of the film takes a bizarre and disjointed shift. The other two films had pretty straight-forward narratives, but this one tries to do so many different things to help explain it all. There are flashbacks to the events of 1974, to help explain more about the corruption back in that day, but aside from the first time they never tell us when we're going back in time and sometimes it's honestly a little hard to figure out when we are. Along with that, we spend almost half of our time back in 1974, so the film doesn't even really feel like it should be titled 1983 because the focus doesn't seem to be much on it. They throw in some voice-over narration that feels very out of place as well, I guess to help with the lack of worthy screen time for one of our main players. Don't get me wrong, the themes are still strong and I love the grit and darkness of this entire trilogy, but this one just falls apart on so many levels. There's a whole subplot with a mystic that feels very out of place for such a grounded series and in some scenes they turn these corrupt police officers into such overbearing caricatures that you can't even buy that they're just greedy, selfish men who abuse their power. When they stand in a circle and toast themselves by saying, "To the North! Where we do what we want!" you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it. The biggest surprise of it all is that, despite being very rushed and all over the place, the film drags along a lot. They should have had more time to properly explain everything, but even with that belief I was still losing interest in a lot of scenes. Overall, just a massive disappointment after two great films that came before it.

Yorkshire...a great place to live if you were a megalomaniac psychopathic sex mad cop in the 1970s and 80s apparently,but not so good if you were unfortunate enough to follow the Oldest Profession and were vulnerable not only to the depredations of the swarms of megalomaniac psychopathic sex mad cops but also the megalomaniac psychopathic sex mad so - called "Yorkshire Ripper" who may or may not have slaughtered a large number of women,most of whom were prostitutes. Now bloated with drugs and bad food,weighing well over 25 stone and on crutches,Peter Sutcliffe passes his time in prison writing to his many admirers.Nowt so queer as folk eh? "Red Riding:1983" closes the story started in 1974 of corruption in public life,a police force wildly out of control and of the strange obsession some men develop for prostitutes to the extent that it takes over their lives. It was hugely popular with Guardianistas everywhere because it played up to their prejudices about the police,Freemasonry,ruthless business men and general suspicion of anywhere or anybody from north of Hampstead Heath. Brutal inarticulate coppers applying devastating violence to members of the underclass (particularly black ones)had them in ecstasies. Stupid coppers unable to catch a serial sex - killer where some Outreach Group from Highgate would have tied it up in a fortnight. Moody photography,lots of crashing,banging and screaming do not a great TV series make.You need some brush,however peripheral,with reality,and "Red Riding:1983" doesn't have one. People treat "Life on Mars" as if it was anything but a comedy.All it did was play to people's perception of what coppers were like in the 1970s.It was "The Sweeney" with added jokes.Not real,sorry,just the product of some TV writers' imagination. The same goes for "Red Riding:1983".Full of Caricatures,stereotypes, the kind of gross violence that makes me wonder what sort of people can actually enjoy programmes like this - possibly the sort who write asking for Peter Sutcliffe's autograph.