A.C.A.B. - All Cops Are Bastards

A film about Italian riot police, told from their own point of view. The narrative follows three experienced officers in Rome and a young recruit who joins them. Their work is football crowds, evictions and street demonstrations. What the film shows is how the unit builds a group identity: everything outside is the enemy, inside nobody abandons anybody, and violence becomes part of professional knowledge. The film neither justifies this nor simply condemns it. It also shows the men's private lives; low pay, broken families, not feeling safe in their own neighbourhoods, and the anger that feeds, all sit inside the narrative. The source is a book by the journalist Carlo Bonini, resting on real events in Italy in recent years. It was Stefano Sollima's first cinema film; he became known afterwards for crime narratives in both Italy and America. Pierfrancesco Favino, Filippo Nigro and Marco Giallini lead. A strong example for anyone who likes hard crime films and films that criticise institutions. For a viewer expecting a clear moral position, the film does not provide one and chooses to stay close to its characters.