All Coppers Are... [Blu-ray]

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If you experienced London in the early 70’s then All Coppers Are…will prove to be enjoyably nostalgic. If you didn’t know the borough of Wandsworth’s social conditions then this film will be a fascinating time capsule of that period. All Coppers Are…isn’t a terrible film (ignore some IMDB comments) but a half-baked one. A movie whose two men pursuing the same woman, plus a sub-plot of male irresponsibility and confusion, entwined round Julie Foster, desperately wanting one of her guys to be effectively mature, takes precedence over the crime drama. So though it’s unfocussed and contradictory (clunky characterisation alternating with shrewd social observation) and does try hard it never really pulls off its important concerns with convincing insight. You might’ve noticed four cryptic letters spray-painted in your local streets amid the uprisings against police violence: A.C.A.B. The acronym, short for “All Cops are Bastards,” is part of a global movement against the policing system. Here’s what you need to know about it. The film's open ended conclusion does it no favours. The protest scene although well filmed seemed to be about nothing apart from young radicals wanting to have a punch up with coppers. It just highlights that the wrong people were involved in the movie as it had no social commentary. Their sympathies were with Barry, being a copper is a hard and dangerous life.

During the 1980s, ACAB became a symbol of anti-Establishment, especially within the punk and skinhead subcultures. [2] [3] [6] It was popularized in particular by the 1982 song "A.C.A.B." by Oi! band The 4-Skins. [2] [3] In later years, ACAB turned into a popular slogan among European football hooligans and ultras, [7] [2] and among anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements across the world. [3] In certain contexts, the Anti-Defamation League categorizes the phrase as a hate symbol and describes it as "a slogan of long standing in the skinhead culture", while noting the phrase is used both by racist and anti-racist skinheads. [6] [8] It’s a pity that All Coppers Are…didn’t really analyse the non-bastard nature of a policeman placed in the fraught role of being a member of the community yet an official outsider: his pressing need for acceptance, by his community, that he’s really an ordinary guy. a b c d e f Groundwater, Colin (11 June 2020). "A brief history of ACAB". GQ . Retrieved 11 September 2020.

Perhaps much of this is due to the producer, Peter Rogers. After all, the Carry On mogul was well known for his conservative politics and its true to say any trace of grit All Coppers Are...manages to convey is rather lost when his brother Eric overlays the action with an iffy unsuitably cheery and chirpy score that even includes some music later featured in the Carry On's themselves. This unfortunate decision also scuppered the thriller Assault which starred Suzy Kendall and Frank Finlay. Its commendable that Rogers chose to produce more than the moneyspinners that were the cheap and cheerful Carry On's, but its a shame he didn't make these efforts truly distinctive from them. Filming started in late May 1971. It was shot largely on location in Battersea, [10] around Nine Elms and Clapham Junction, Southwest London, and at Pinewood Studios. [7]

This was the time when Carry On producer Peter Rogers who also produced this movie started to rebel against the swinging 60s to become a bit of a reactionary. There are many good parts of 'All Copper Are...' and the story is a good one. Perhaps, if the film had completed the sentence for its title and gone for a AA or X certificate rather than a 12 it might have worked better. a b c d e f Aitken-Smith, Trent; Tyson, Ashley (2016). The Tattoo Dictionary. Octopus. p.13. ISBN 978-1-78472-254-8. But when Joe – feeling guilty about the afternoon’s unfaithfulness – goes home to his wife and baby daughter instead of staying with her, she becomes disillusioned and turns her affections to Barry, moving in with him. Barry has completed the robbery and is ready to drive off, but he sees Joe for the first time in uniform, and suddenly, the two young men are face to face, recognising each other and their violently opposed worlds.

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In the half a century since the Daily Mirror headline, ACAB has proven flexible, and not always in good ways: it’s embodied ideas of varied nuance and intensity, from a casual expression of rebellion to nuanced anarchist thought to more ominous skinhead ideology. It’s been the subject of hate speech litigation in Germany. The Anti-Defamation League currently lists ACAB as a hate symbol/abbreviation, but notes that “it should be carefully judged in the context in which it appears,” as it’s been a watchword for racist and anti-racist groups.

Addams Family, The (1991) Hollywood's plundering of classic TV series has produced its fair share of turkeys, but this is a glorious exception. This…This London-set drama is as much an Up the Junction-style slice of young lowlife as it is an on-the-beat crime movie – though, like almost all British cops ‘n’ robbers films, it ends with a botched heist. Austrian band Ja, Panik released on their album Libertatia (2014) a song with the title "A.C.A.B.", in which the acronym is interpreted as "All Cats Are Beautiful" [27] Joe, the policeman, is married with a young child, but when he meets Barry's live-in partner Sue, there is an instant mutual attraction. Woodman, Gordon (2009). The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 57/2008. LIT Verlag Münster. p.53. ISBN 978-3-643-10157-0. Julie Foster shines. He natural acting stands out and hers is a memorable performance despite been given a script a script that is stodgy in parts.

It's believed the phrase was first turned into an acronym by a group of striking workers in the 1940s, but this could be an urban myth. What's certain is that the acronym grew in popularity in the British prison system, with prisoners writing "ACAB" on walls and on themselves. Depending on who asked what it meant, it could also be spun as "Always Carry A Bible". Elliot, Paul (2014). Studying the British Crime Film. Columbia University Press. pp.78–79. ISBN 978-1-906-73374-2. A.C.A.B. is thought to have originated with striking workers England in the 1940s, who shortened “ All Coppers are Bastards” to the present-day acronym. A Daily Mirror headline that included A.C.A.B. catapulted it to popular consciousness in 1970. The punk movement then spread it internationally as a slogan for anti-authoritarian resistance efforts, even as far away as Indonesia, where a fan of the soccer team Persija Jakarta died at the hands of police. Notebooks found in his home contained the phrase “ All coppers are bastards,” per Vice. a b Partridge, Eric (1986). A Dictionary of Catch Phrases. Taylor & Francis. p.1. ISBN 978-0-415-05916-9. German satirist Jan Böhmermann with his song " Ich hab Polizei" (2015), [31] but negating it by adding an N in front. [32]

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KARLOVČANIN DOBIO 100 EURA KAZNE JER JE NA FACEBOOKU NAPISAO ACAB Policija mladića koji nikad prije nije kažnjavan odmah prijavila prekršajnom sudu". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 24 January 2018 . Retrieved 26 January 2018. All Coppers Are... comes across as a slice of life kitchen sink drama of the 1960s. Only it was made in the early 1970s after the worldwide student protest movement of the late 60s. However, prosecution on the grounds of ACAB being offensive is not limited to Europe. In 2018, a group of Persija Jakarta football fans in Indonesia were arrested for displaying a banner with the message "All Cops Are Bastards" on it during the league match day. [23] It has an interesting cast, and lots of good period location filming around Battersea - but in some ways this is the most interesting part of the film. It starts off brightly enough as we get to know the characters, and the story involving a young copper and a petty criminal both vying for the charms of the same girl (played by Julia Foster) sounds promising. The technical adviser on the film was ex-Detective Chief Superintendent Ray Dagg, who said "this seems to me to be the first film to really portray with authenticity what a policeman is like." [7]