Red Riding: 1974 (Julian Jarrold, 2009): UK

Reviewed by Lava Farmer.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Red Riding: 1974 is the first chapter of the shockingly dark Red Riding trilogy.  The story begins when a little girl goes missing and an eager journalist named Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield) starts to find a link between this and a series of murders from not long before.  Through his efforts to unlock the truth he discovers how crooked the Police really are, and how far the spread of their influence had really spread.  Every time he starts to piece together the clues and find out who’s connected to whom, he finds that everyone is connected to the police, leaving him to be continually brutalized with nobody to turn to because it’s the Police that are doing the beating.  However, Eddie is relentless and pushes forward with his investigations, perhaps to prove there is some hope for humanity.

Director Julian Jarrold uses mis-en-scene in the beginning to create a feeling of enclosure.  Most of the scenes are shot very extremely close up the point that you almost feel uncomfortable.  Likewise, we given numerous shots of rooms that seem small and cramped.  This boxing us in emphasizes the feeling that Eddie is getting boxed in.  He seems to be digging himself into a trap that he just can’t get out of.  When we are given some more open shots of the countryside, Eddie is still entrapped and enclosed by his tiny car.  Eddie even agrees that he feels trapped and at one point says to his lover, Paula Garland (Rebecca Hall), “We gotta get out of this place”.

Lighting plays a crucial role in this film as well.  The use of lighting indoors is very minimal and almost all light is usually coming in from outside.  Very shady, smoky rooms create a mood of corruption and malice.  The dark, wet, cement holding rooms of the police station reveal the true attitude that these wicked officers possess.  The dimly lit club where John Dawson relaxes also reveals the dark nature of its inhabitant.  The countryside on the other hand is quite stark.  The blankness of the dull lighting reflects the blank opinions of the people around.  Doomed to carry on quietly under the watchful and sadistic eyes of the law.

By use of numerous facial close-ups the audience is really able to get a sense of who Eddie is, and how he perceives.  As he untangles each strand of this web of lies he becomes more and more entangled in it and so do we.  As the movie truth is revealed you’ll find yourself just as frustrated as when it was all a mystery.  The theme of entrapment seems to persist and even after this film is over you’ll find yourself trapped by evermore questions, which may eventually be revealed if you can find it in you to watch the next two chapters of this brutally, magnificent trilogy.