A rookie journalist, Eddie Dunford, investigates a series of child abductions and murders, leading him to suspect that there's a terrifying connection between the perpetrators and the upper echelons of Yorkshire power.
The Red Riding films all come across as great, gritty tales of police corruption and human failing, but it's the first film that has the most impact, mainly because the young reporter Dunford is such a mix of romantic notions.
It is effective at setting the stage, introducing some of the characters, and capturing the attention of those who love gritty, uncompromising dramas about police corruption and the dark side of human nature.
Cigarettes, leather jackets, bell-bottoms, and dollops of pop music establish the socially agreed upon distractions of the particular bygone time: just a few ways of avoiding ugly truths. [Blu-ray]
With its muted colors but unmuted violence, it's similar texturally to David Fincher's superb Zodiac, about another 70s serial killer. It's also just as disturbing.
This is a noir, the kind where the good-for-nothing gumshoe (here, an investigative reporter) has a habit of getting his face bashed in, usually on account of a girl.
The tenets of crime cinema are well taken care of in 1974, which sets a specifically chest-tightening tone of anxiety and futility that makes the next two pictures (1980 and 1983) impossible to miss.
Tightly helmed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots) . . . (and) beautifully shot, with some sensational acting turns -- especially by Rebecca Hall as one of the victims' mothers.
An intriguing and compelling neo-noir. Though it has the feeling of being incomplete (as the first part of a three part story), it still manages to give the viewer a sense of how far and wide the corruption really goes. The subtlety of some of the connections made by the protaganist really force the viewer to pay
attention or wind up losing track of the case....much like a real investigation.
"1974" is a strong, promising start to the RED RIDING TRILOGY. It's a brooding, moody examination of police corruption told in the most bleak fashion possible. It doesn't offer any easy answers, and even key plot elements are revealed subtly. Though this can confuse and isolate viewers, the film keeps you immersed in
it's world and invested in it's characters, especially Andrew Garfield in the lead who really shines here. Sure, Certain elements might seem unclear, but by the end the film really comes together in it's own unique, satisfying way. Hopefully the plot will be further fleshed-out in the final two parts.(Be sure to get those subtitles ready. The accents are HEAVY in this film and some of the dialogue is near incomprehensible. Also, "1974" is notorious for various audio dips and problems which makes matters worse. The subtitles help greatly).
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