Country:
United Kingdom
Recognizable Faces:
David Morrissey
Sean Bean
Directed By:
Anand Tucker
I have to finish this. I started watching the trilogy in July, I have to finish reviewing it. The first chapter was so-so, the second one stretched the plot so thin you could see holes, how bad could be the third? Red Riding is an ambitious idea, the way Columbia Space Shuttle was. The second chapter left it shaky and despite all the good will in the world, a third director couldn't stop what was coming.
Red Riding: In The Year Of Our Lord 1983 is the story of Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey), background character in the first two movies, who can't bear the weight of his rotten colleagues anymore. Corruption, torture and other injustices are starting to get to his soul. When young Hazel Atkins disappear, the mustache-wearing cop decides that it's enough and he turns his vest against his co-workers, because law isn't justice...and Maurice is tired of that.
So is John Piggott (Mark Addy), mediocre lawyer, who's revisiting the case of some of the 1974, at the demand of convict Mike Myshkin's mother. Somehow, his father was implicated in the sordid, but unclear political games that are played behind the scenes. The only explanation for the whole "cops let killers loose" plot lines is a repeated shot of a toasts where cops say: "To the North, where we do what we want". I'm puzzled, is the novel that cryptic and unclear? Because the movies play like they were scripted by Timothy Leary in his good days.
The theme moving Red Riding is close to my heart. The dichotomy in between the concept of justice and it's application by man: law. The treatment (at least in the movies) is ungodly poor. The characters are self-centered, sometimes career minded even. It's a schizoid narrative where the plot and the characters don't communicate. And I'd rather don't talk about the cheap shot at religion. I don't defend religion much, but Red Riding: In The Year Of Our Lord 1983's comment is completely unwarranted.
The movie is well shot, the slow motion moments and the flashbacks are used in creative fashion and make the movie stand-out from your normal flick. It's smart, but a little pretentious...and the plot? It's a disaster. Red Riding Trilogy is a nice car that crashed right into the wall.
SCORE: 55%
