Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Julian Jarrold
	Actors: Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spiderman 1-2), David Morrissey, John Henshaw, Sean Bean (Cleanskin, Black Death)
	Country: GB
	Genre: Drama, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 20.05.2014, DVD, 11" computer screen
Synopsis: A young journalist investigates the serial murder of little girls. In the British Yorkshire of the 70's, he enters a world of secrets and corruption.
Review: Some years ago I had read some good about this movie in the Mad Movies magazine, in spite of it being a TV-film. It is indeed a dark and complex polar of very good quality, that can easily compete against many American average polars and thrillers. The title immediately made me think of the excellent Korean Memories of Murder, while in fact I have learnd that the Ridings refer to different jurisdictions in the Yorkshire region in the UK. The trilogy is fact adapted from David Peace's novels, themself fictions revolving around true events. Andrew Garfield plays the best role I have even seen him in, he is very convincing. The other actors, including Sean Bean, are also very good. But the strongest point is definitely the story. The criminal investigation quickly give way to a fight for the truth, (light spoilers, highlight to read) against corruption and powerful people that seem to be able to buy the right to do anything at that period in time. And the ending is not what you would expcect. The story is twisted and not what you could usually expect from a Polar, especially not one made for television. This continues to prove that the British movie making industry is in good health (to me at least) and can deliver a kind of story that could not be told anywhere else. I struggled understanding some details because of the strong British accents in the movie. I didn't have access to sub-titles but I would advise anybody to watch this trilogy with them if they are not native English speakers. I am now very eager to see what the two following movies of the trilogy have to deliver: Red Riding 1980 and Red Riding 1984.
Rating: 7 /10