Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980 (2009)

A team of investigators attempt to stop a serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper from claiming his next victim, but uncover something far more terrifying.

Director:

James Marsh

Writers:

Tony Grisoni (screenplay), David Peace (novel)

Stars:

Warren Clarke, Paddy Considine, James Fox

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren Clarke	...	Bill Molloy
Paddy Considine	...	Peter Hunter
James Fox	...	Philip Evans
David Calder	...	Sir John Marsden
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Michael Warren
Ron Cook	...	Clement Smith
Maxine Peake	...	Helen Marshall
Tony Pitts	...	John Nolan
Jim Carter	...	Harold Angus
David Morrissey	...	Maurice Jobson
Eddie Marsan	...	Jack Whitehead
Sean Harris	...	Bob Craven
Tony Mooney	...	Tommy Douglas
Shaun Dooley	...	Dick Alderman
Ken Oxtoby	...	Hotel Receptionist

Storyline

With a serial killer claiming victim 13 and rumors of corruption in their force, the West Yorkshire cops are told to cooperate with a team from outside - Peter Hunter and two hand-picked associates. Hunter gets little help but plunges ahead, discovering that one of the 13 victims may have a different killer. This part of the investigation leads to late-night calls, another murder, and bureaucratic moves to push Hunter aside: he may be getting close, not to the serial killer but to bad apples in the force. Christmas approaches.

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Plot Keywords:

men's room | serial killer | yorkshire | christmas | murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980

Filming Locations:

Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,526, 7 February 2010

Gross USA:

$148,826

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Film, Lipsync Productions, Revolution Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Maxine Peake was cast when two previous choices dropped out.

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Goofs

In an early flashback to the Karachi Club investigation, Hunter identifies some long, bottle-necked cartridge cases as coming from an MP5. The MP5 fires 9mm rounds, which are shorter and have straight sides.

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Quotes

Peter Hunter: You don't like the police much, do you?
Martin Laws: No love lost, no.
Peter Hunter: So when someone kicks down your front door, kills the dog and rapes the wife, who you gonna call?
Martin Laws: Well it certainly wouldn't be the West Yorkshire Police - they'd already *be* in there, wouldn't they!

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Connections

Follows Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)

User Reviews

Improves on the first film with better pacing and delivery even if the grim atmosphere and other issues remain

The second part of the trilogy takes a similar approach to the first film in that it sets us up with a serial killer (this time the Yorkshire Ripper) but really is more interested in the crimes going on behind the scenes with the police and politicians. In this case I think I enjoyed the film more than the first one because I was aware of this and, although I was interested in the hunt for the Ripper, I knew to almost try to focus away from it. This is a strange feeling and it is one that I still think I struggle with on this second film – that basically the main text of the film is actually subtext and vice versa. This film makes this particularly true since the resolution of the Ripper story barely makes a ripple whereas the film ends with an almighty splash that is sure to bring me back for the final film.

This almighty splash is all the more important because for the most part the film moves quite slowly and every that occurs seems to be suggested between the words. This makes for a good tense atmosphere even if it doesn't exactly get the pulse racing. This slow burn is quite satisfying though and, like I said, with my understanding of the direction more in place, I found it more engaging. This isn't to say it is perfect though and I still am a little confused by the universal acclaim for this film and the 10 out of 10 gushing that many here on IMDb have delivered. The slow delivery adds to the feeling of a deep, complex tale which to be honest the material here doesn't fully support. Unlike the first film at least the pacing is better and I didn't feel like we were in a race but rather than it played out as it should, although having never read the books I am not sure if this came at a cost to the source material.

The heavyweight cast certainly helps the film and they fit the serious tone of foreboding pretty well. I'm sure Considine has been bad at some point but not in my memory and certainly not here; he is convincing in his underplaying and he makes for an engaging lead. Morrissey, Carter, Harris, Pitts and others all fill out the cast really well, again with performances that fit the tone and pace of the film well. If there is a fault it is that they are all very uniform in their characters and there is perhaps too much consistency in the "grim op norf" performances, but still.

1980 improves on the first film, partly by virtue of being better paced but also partly by the viewer (me) now having the context as to what the film is really about rather than what the plot summary suggests. It is grim and engaging even if it isn't the most thrilling and it ends with a very satisfying conclusion that will bring me back for the final film.