Juvenile Liaison

Superb documentary from when Broomfield let the story and subjects do the talking. He kind of lost his way as a film-maker as he gained access to more 'dramatic' American subjects, but this is a reminder of his skills and ability. Excellent stuff.

I found this film a very interesting insight into attitudes towards children and offending behaviour from a time now gone. Some of it was amusing just because of the input of the police on 'crimes' that would now probably not warrant even a detention, but equally some of it was very disturbing, particularly the lack of understanding or even acknowledgement of the officers concerned of the causes of inappropriate behaviour. The failure to notice or pay any attention to clear warning signs of disfunctional and sometimes violent home lives is frightening. A fascinating documentary and insight into the societal norms of my parents generation.

Nick Broomfield's first documentary after leaving film school is a reminder of why he is such a big name in the field. 'Juvenile Liaison' was banned for many years, thanks in no small part to a concerted effort by the police to get participants to withdraw their consent. The film gives us several snapshots of the work of a small group of police officers whose job is to reduce offending behaviour among children and adolescents by disciplining them before formal charges are brought. Thus we see a fourteen-year-old boy with some obvious mental health problems dragged out of bed by his hair and harangued, a thirteen-year-old who has used a bad word questioned in a way that is far more offensive than the word she originally used, and a seven-year old boy escorted to a police cell so that he can experience what his future will be like if he doesn't change his ways and change the story that his toy came from Father Christmas. This is a disturbing insight into the values of the time, which, like the on-going Saville controversy in the UK, many will find shocking but not completely surprising. To some extent, I felt sorry for the police officer at the centre of the film. His methods may not have always been in the best interests of the children, but I came away with the impression that he sincerely believed that they were. His demeanour sometimes gave the impression of a man who cared deeply, but his political ramblings served to highlight that he didn't really understand. In a sequel documentary, he revealed that he felt the film very one-sided and he was probably right for the documentary does focus exclusively on the more dramatic, punishing side of his work and I didn't really believe that his only methods were inflicting fear and degradation on the young. That said, this is an extraordinary and utterly riveting documentary, tightly edited, with no wasted material. This may partly be due to the technical constraints of the time (I was aware that they might not want to waste film by the constant noise of it passing though the camera picked up by a microphone) but after Broomfield's flabby Sarah Palin documentary, he would do well to revisit earlier work like this and learn from his younger self.

1975 Really, mich of this would not be in a Charles Dickens book, They should show thesee in terrestial tv far more insightful & revealing than the lame & contrived Seven Up series,

The Old Bill called in cos a few crayons or kids costume went missing in school. ha ha ha love, shows how much society cared about keeping youngsters on the straight and narrow. Loved the kid took to the cell cos he couldn't tell the truth and the clever Pakistani girl who was very tricky to catch until they set a trap and here hands were covered in dye after thieving!

Love the PC's criticism of the Marxist/Socialist vermin at the time back in the 60s, sadly they're in power now!

But hey, REVOLUTION IN EUROPE is brewing! As for the Europe Superstate......SORRY IT'S DEAD!