June 11, 2010

REVIEW: Red Riding Is The Godfather of Crime Stories


Originally set up as a mini-series for England's Channel 4 it would later be released as a trilogy of films. I finally got round to watching the trilogy which is based on true events. While I didn't know what to expect I now understand why it was so critically acclaimed. The whole production was beyond epic and disturbing on so many levels. I couldn't decide who was the worse the child killer, the Yorkshire Ripper or the Yorkshire Police Department. The practices of the Police were on the level of the Gestapo during the Nazis and it's chilling to know these people existed. Killing, burning, torturing, pimping, framing innocent people and fellow officers to protect their own interests. It pretty much reads if the Mafia ran a small town in England which it looks like that actually happened. While this massive police corruption took place the city was plagued with two serial killers which the police didn't seem too interested in catching. It's shocking the depths of evil these people were capable of.


I have to admit this rivals any previous crime based film or television series. In the first film 1974 it focuses on young journalist who isn't the first to discover the city's ugly secret. 1980 focuses on the ripper investigation which leads to an outsider officer discovering more ugliness. In the final film 1983 it sheds light on the police while another little girl goes missing. I believe everyone who was cast in this trilogy was matched perfectly with their characters. Everyone brought their A game and each scene was hit out of the park. It made second guess the quality of the acting on both the Sopranos and The Wire. I have to recommend this to anyone who loves cinema not just crime thrillers. This was one of the best movie watching experiences I've had in a long time. Try to watch all three consecutively if possible because they flowed so well back to back.

A++

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