Red Riding is a trilogy of movies based on a quartet of novels by David Peace. The books (and films) are fictionalized accounts of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, a brutal serial killer that stalked the Yorkshire area of England in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
The three films – titled Nineteen Seventy-Four, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three were adapted for the screen by Tony Grisoni (Tideland and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).
Screen Rant was present at the launch of the films in London and interviewed Tony Grisoni along with various other UK bloggers.
Each film in the Red Riding trilogy has a different director, with the first installment helmed by Julian Jarrold (director of the Anne Hathaway starrer Becoming Jane); James Marsh (the Oscar winning Man On Wire) called the shots on the second and the third film was directed by Anand Tucker (Steve Martin’s Shopgirl).
They will be screened on Channel Four in the UK starting on Thursday 5th March at 9 pm. Cinematic releases are expected for the films around the world (including the US) later in the year.
We were shown extracts from the films and they look fantastic. The films appear to have the same texture of the great 1970’s films such as All The Presidents Men and Serpico, with thick plot and layered performances from the first rate British cast that includes Sean Bean, Paddy Considine and David Morrissey.
1S1E1: In the Year of Our Lord 1974
120 min | Mar 05, 2009
Eddie Dunford and Barry Gannon, crime reporters for the Yorkshire Post are sent to a press conference where they find a Mrs Kemplay pleading for someone to help find her missing daughter, Claire. Finding out that there have been two previous missing girls in the past few years, Eddie decides to help, unaware of the violence, corruption and blackmail that awaits him.