West Yorkshire, 1974; young reporter Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield) starts looking into the case of several unsolved murders of young girls and finds a connection to organized crime. The first part of a trilogy of films based on the acclaimed series of novels by David Peace that (hopefully) portray an alternative history of vast police corruption in the part of England where he grew up. Director Julian Jarrold recreates all the gorgeous details of the era, but shrouds them in the darkness and hopelessness of a community that’s being held hostage by its police, but doesn’t realize the extent of their grip. Good performances, especially by Garfield as the increasingly tormented journalist.
2009-Britain. Made for TV. 106 min. Color. Produced byĀ Wendy Brazington, Andrew Eaton, Anita Overland. Directed byĀ Julian Jarrold. Teleplay: Tony Grisoni. Novel: David Peace. Cinematography: Rob Hardy. Cast: Andrew Garfield (Eddie Dunford), Sean Bean (John Dawson), Warren Clarke (Bill Molloy), Rebecca Hall, Eddie Marsan, David Morrissey.
Trivia: Released theatrically in the U.S. The other two films in the series are Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980 and Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983.
Last word:Ā āWe didnāt consciously say, ‘Letās be different,’ but it works to the benefit of the film. For me, I wanted the film to evoke my memory of the 1970s, and the graininess of 16mm captures that drab, smoky era. I remain a big champion of film ā most TV shot on digital looks awful, just devoid of atmosphere.” (Jarrold, In Contention)
ABOVE AVERAGE