Dark Blue
Ron Shelton

Alan Docherty

Dark Blue has more cop clichés than you can shake a truncheon at. Yet, despite a line-up featuring God-fearing black assistant chief (Ving Rhames), corrupt Irish squad commander (Brendan Gleeson), tough older cop (Kurt Russell) and a young rookie who struggles with his conscience (Scott Speedman) Dark Blue rises above the formula.

Aided by David Ayer's (Training Day) strong script, Dark Blue works so effectively because of the non-fiction backdrop that illuminates the story. The film is set in the Los Angeles Police Department in April 1992, in the days surrounding the acquittal of four white police officers in the assault of black motorist Rodney King. Dark Blue slickly juxtaposes black and white, innocence and guilt, and rattles along at a brisk pace faltering only when the rookie cop unconvincingly makes a stab at atonement.

LA was, and remains, on the streets and in the police department, polarised by race. In Dark Blue no-one is innocent; the puritanical, pulpit preaching assistant chief Holland has a dirty secret that returns to haunt him, even apparent victims of crime, like the Asian shopkeeper whose wife is killed by armed robbers, turns out to be a gangster.

What makes Dark Blue stand out is its 1990s setting. It starts with King's beating and ends with the LA riots in all their destructive force. Not only do the riots provide a strong anchor to this story but they provide an opportunity for director Ron Shelton to direct some grim set pieces with flair.

The reality was appalling enough; 55 people were killed, about 2,000 injured, and another 12,000 arrested as parts of LA rioted for three days. What was shocking a decade ago was not so much that the LAPD would assault blacks (as it routinely did) but that a jury would acquit after seeing the vicious attack replayed on video in court.

At that time the LAPD had a serious image problem. The department kept the media at arm's length. At one telling moment in Dark Blue the lead character Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell) is asked for a quote by a journalist. He rages: 'Get your fucking head out of my ass and stop writing that cocksucking criminals are victims instead of the pigs they are and let motherfucking cops do what motherfucking cops do'. It is a striking reflection on how the media was seen as standing in the way of law enforcement and how the police dealt with policing the black community in the only way it knew - with motherfucking force.

Now the LAPD insists that it polices by consent, and according to LAPD online, it has a media relations wing dedicated to foster 'cooperation and mutual respect between the Department and the news media'. TV crews and film-makers join cops on ride-alongs, and the LAPD features in doc series in which the colleagues of Rodney King's attackers are portrayed as victims of a legal system that prevents them from enforcing the law. Happily, the LAPD did not give its full cooperation in the making of Dark Blue and the film is all the stronger for it.

Dark Blue is not only a powerful film but it does a service by reminding us that the LAPD weren't always so media-savvy, and that occasionally they would get caught out behaving more shockingly than most people could ever imagine.

All articles on this site © Culture Wars.