Dr Jacques COULARDEAU Vicious, disgusting, more than gory, just gross, and yet so true to "life" if this is life. It sure is Yorkshire, accent, desolation and misery (more than plain and simple poverty), cruelty, pollution, greed, vice, perversion, etc. spread all over. All evils in one pouch, one bag in West Yorkshire and the motto that "this is the north, where we do what we want," that's the great beauty of ugliness.It will take you three long episodes to reach the culprit and you won't be surprised at all when you finally come to him. In the meantime the police would have revealed itself the most odious, ferocious and mentally cannibalistic institution you can imagine. Asking a question for them is necessarily hurting, torturing and a few other things of the sort: breaking fingers, crushing burning cigarettes anywhere you can imagine, stripping the suspects naked, and the films do not show them naked (prudes!). There is not one single person in the police force that is able to do anything regular like find a culprit that is really guilty and bring that one to justice. One journalist is driven to craziness and some deadly justice enforcing spree, and yet you will know if he was right in his choice of targets at the end of the third film. Another young man, slightly spaced out will be convinced under duress by everyone, probably only in the police, that he killed the girl. And he will end his life in prison. With little chance to be retried since he signed a confession and pleaded guilty.And quite a few are questioned that way and yet the crimes are going on: kidnapped girls, then raped, and in many ways cut up and carved up and more or less endowed with wings and feathers. And all that in a society that is rotten to the core, that speculates on the death of as many people as possible with pollution and the exploitation of them as long as they live with projects that are as crazy as they are greedy of shopping malls with cinemas and all kinds of entertainments to empty the billfolds of the gullible submissive slaves of the public till they are empty and they can then commit suicide or die young of any kind of hazardous escaping tentative or industrial pollution. And for the girls and women prostitution and promiscuity are the main two udders of everyday suspended death. You can imagine what the other two are.And be sure that all the cadres of the police and the most respected people in this society, lay and clerical, are among the small circle of speculators and their only aim is to make money and thus to keep the surrounding society going because you cannot squeeze money out of marginal miserable derelict and impoverished proletariat. No matter what, they must have just a little bit more than their basic needs to be able to spend that little bit more in the traps of the entertaining plotters.Is it a great trilogy? I do not know but one thing is sure even if at the end the killer is finally put out of the way all the corrupted elite of this part of Yorkshire will not be in any way even questioned, not to speak of prosecuted. After all corruption is the basic human dimension: the survival instinct of the more corrupted declared the fitter, by all means, even selling their parents into slavery and feeding their own children to the industrial sharks of our certainly not post-modern society but definitely pre-modern jungle.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

CinemaClown The first chapter of the Red Riding Trilogy, In the Year of Our Lord 1974 blends elements of real-life events with fiction of its own to put on screen a tale about crime & corruption and follows a rookie journalist who finds himself in the middle of all this while investigating the case of a child murderer.Narrated in a non-linear manner to keep the viewers intrigued, this TV film is finely written & nicely directed but the interest soon fizzles out for the story is plagued by its confusing plot & slow pace plus the way its events unfold, it simply fails to create any sort of suspense or raise the tempo despite numerous opportunities.However, there are a few things that do work in its favour, like its hazy photography & warm colour tones which provide its Yorkshire locations a distinct look n feel. The theme of police corruption is effectively carried out, and a commendable performance from Andrew Garfield definitely makes it an experience that's worth sitting through, at least once.

Rockwell_Cronenberg I know a lot of people thought that the trilogy was a let-down, but 1974 has floored me both of the times that I watched it. This one stands as one of the most impressive works of 2010 to me. The visual style immediately drew me in, gripping me into this world and putting me right in the shoes of Eddie Dunford. I love plots like this, with a guy just fighting against everything to bring down corruption. It's all so gritty and so dark, and expertly draws you into this dangerous, despicable world without fail.Andrew Garfield is perfect in the lead role; he was practically made for the role of this sly and naive journalist walking into the lion's den. His charisma and do-gooder attitude goes through hell throughout the duration of the film and he plays every second magnificently. The character makes such a brutal, wrecked transformation throughout the film and Garfield is right there hitting every single step without fail. I know some people have had some backlash against his sudden popularity, but that really just doesn't make sense to me because he came out of nowhere last year with three performances that were absolutely extraordinary.Rebecca Hall is superb in this one as well, proving again that she is one of the finest actresses of her generation. She brings this cold vulnerability to her role that is very chilling and sticks with you when the film is over. Two superb performances in a very dark, excellent picture.

Leofwine_draca I missed this trilogy when it was first shown on TV, heard great things about it, and finally caught up with it when they repeated it recently.A mystery about a series of child abductions eventually turns out to be more about corruption in the Yorkshire police than anything else, but boy what a production! This has to be one of the darkest, most downbeat slices of television I've witnessed, and yet it's so well made, so compelling that you can't stop watching.Garfield's cocky journo wasn't my favourite of the series leads - I felt no sympathy for him - but what a supporting cast! Sean Bean headlines as the big name, but it's a shock to see friendly favourites like Warren Clarke playing complete bastards.The story meanders with one too many sub-plots to easily follow, but things gradually become clearer as the trilogy progresses. More than anything I'm reminded of Scorcese's TAXI DRIVER as a similar story of one man's disintegration...