Title: Red Riding Trilogy
Year: 2009
Country of Origin: UK
Director: 1974 by Julian Jarrold, 1980 by James Marsh, 1983 by Anand Tucker.
Story: A trilogy of films dealing with wide spread corruption of the Yorkshire police department during a 9 year stretch.
Review: Yeah, I know that it's three separate TV movies...but they were released theatrically here in the states and are treated as one film here by most critics...and I'm not going to argue with them. The trilogy based on a series of four books written by David Peace, one that I haven't read. The second book of the series was not used. The films are titled as such: In the Year of Our Lord 1974, In the Year of Our Lord 1980 and In the Year of Our Lord 1983.
1974: This is why I wish that some films coming out of the UK had subtitles. I spent a lot of the film in total confusion just trying to figure out what they were saying. Well that was at first...eventually I figured out what was going on and was treated to a really depressing film about a young reporter who starts to investigate a local Real Estate mogul and soon discovers some real dark skeletons hiding in his closet. Soon he finds himself way to far into the whole mess and has now gotten the attention of the police who are also in bed with the Real Estate guy. According to Wikipedia the film was shot in 16mm, which explains its grainy look. The film is well acted and directed.
1980: In this one our protagonist is an Police detective who is brought in to Yorkshire to help investigate Yorkshire Ripper case. As his investigation continues he finds that one of the murders doesn't match. He soon finds himself knee deep in a cover up that is directly related to the events of the first film. Once again the film is well acted and well directed.
1983: During the last film there were a few characters who were present in both films. This one deals with those characters and how they were involved in the events of the first two films. It does a pretty good wrapping up the plot and revealing several mysteries that the first two films created. Like the other two films, this one was well acted and directed.
Overall: This one is hard to review, over the roughly 5 hours that it takes to watch all these I have to say that they kept my interest the whole time. The breath of the project is immense and is really well done. If you have the time and an ear for a Yorkshire accent, then I recommend these films.
[9.5/10]