The Glass Shield
Charles Burnett / US, 1994 / 109 min.
This harrowing crime drama gives a realistic representation of racism and corruption within a Los Angeles sheriff’s department. The Glass Shield was Charles Burnett’s most stylised, most explicitly political film to date. With strong roles for Michael Boatman, Ice Cube and Elliott Gould.
Michael Boatman impresses as rookie police officer J.J., the first black sheriff’s deputy in his Los Angeles sheriff’s department. He soon experiences up close and personal how deep-rooted the culture of racism is within the LAPD. In an attempt to fit in, he participates in the arrest on dubious grounds of Teddy Woods (Ice Cube). J.J. quickly finds out that this means he’s unintentionally become an accomplice in a corrupt case that goes way further than he thought. Together with former police officer Barbara (Victoria Dillard), he attempts to put an end to the racist power structures within the LAPD.
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Details
Director
Charles Burnett
Production year
1994
Country
US
Original title
The Glass Shield
Length
109 min.
Language
English
Subtitles
NONE
Part of
Everyday Blues
Rarely shown, now finally back on the big screen: the films of legendary American filmmaker Charles Burnett, a pioneer of the Black independent cinema movement of the ’70s and ’80s known as L.A. Rebellion. Three of his films have now been digitally restored, including his debut Killer of Sheep.
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