Six years later, and the outside inspector who was called in to investigate the Karachi Club violence in 1974 is back in Yorkshire to try to figure out why the police investigation into a serial killer isn’t going well. Inspector Peter Hunter lifts the wrong stone, and he discovers a lot of things about the Yorkshire Police.
There’s a similar atmosphere here with the overwhelming, irresistible corruption of the police in an obscure, dark setting. Perhaps thinking of the previous movie, I had the feeling that Inspector Hunter was facing a big, uphill battle against the police, so there was a situational oppression for me as well as the dark, wet, nighttime settings and the darkness in so many people’s personal relationships. The overarching darkness in 1980 echoes that of 1974.
Another tonal success, 1980 isn’t as structurally adventurous or engaging as 1974. This film was shot in 35 mm while the earlier one was in 16 mm, so perhaps the more fluid camera movement of 1974 was partly a result of the smaller, more nimble camera. Whatever the cause, 1980 is more static and has a more straightforward narrative style than 1974 does. This film isn’t far from a typical, smaller-budget crime/corruption movie, and I found myself relating the visuals back to those in Fincher’s 7.
So 1980 is certainly a worthwhile effort. And there are so many loose ends and characters left over, I have to think I’ll seen them again in 1983.
