There are quite a few movies I'm excited for this year. But the one that I'm most eager to see, and certainly the only one that's tempting me to travel to New York for the opening, is also the most unusual on my list. Red Riding is a trilogy, made for television, about the Yorkshire Ripper murders, and based on David Peace's novels about the crimes. And it looks fascinating, and gorgeous:
There are a couple of things that look compelling about this. The first is the cast. Across the three movies, it's stacked. There's David Morrissey, so fantastic as the morally compromised MP in State of Play, in all three parts of the trilogy. Paddy Considine, hilarious in a small role in Hot Fuzz. The always-excellent Sean Bean. Rebecca Hall, lovely and underrated in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The second is the directors. My love for Anand Tucker has a clear source. Julian Jarrold did a nice job with Becoming Jane, and the era in England is familiar to him from Kinky Boots. I know James Marsh's work less well, but he's got a track record with sensitive indies. In other words, this is a trilogy populated by fantastic actors from across the UK, about a serial killer but helmed, at least in part by directors who have payed intense attentions to the inner lives of women. It's a fascinating combination.
And while I don't handle horror, or extreme violence well, I really adore smart murder mysteries. The more I think about it, Zodiac may be my favorite movie of the aughts, with its trio of astonishing male performances, its clipped dialogue, and its sharp digital and blues and grays. I love State of Play for many reasons, but ultimately, it's an extremely well-executed murder mystery. Prime Suspect's extended arcs work the same way, even if the crimes are more juiced and sensationalistic. The arc of a long-unsolved crime makes for good movies, but few of them either spool out in proportion to the length it takes to solve a murder, or manage to condense a years-long investigation into two hours without being absurdly choppy. Red Riding may be self-indulgent, or it may be amazing. I'm looking forward to checking it out.