ShirlGirl

Sure, make Britain really civilized, forget the law courts, let the cops gun people down! So what if a few innocent people get killed by mistake!

christoph404

According to Home Office statistics violent crime is on the decrease. www.crimestatistics.org.uk . According to the graph violent crime in 2007 is probably less than it was in 1981 when you take into account that there have been several new offences brought into force since then that you can be arrested and charged for (carrying a knife, immitation handgun, harrassment etc) The bad old days seemed to be 1995 when violent crime was at a peak at a staggering 40% more than it is now. Perhaps crime is down but sensationalised and alarmist newspaper reporting is up? Maybe our perception of the past is always rosier than the present, my perception is that the past seemed more crime free and peacefull but statistics don't seem to support that at all.

samkydd

I don't think the British police would ever gun anyone down who's innocent!

Moor Larkin

So.... will it be the Home Office or the tabloids....... The tabloids or the Home Office........
I think I'll keep taking the tablets..........

And join the queue for my health-cheque.......
The NHS is to launch a national screening programme to tackle some of Britain's biggest killer diseases, including heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and kidney failure, Gordon Brown will announce today. The programme, the first of its kind in the world, is expected to help prevent 200,000 deaths a year
NHS screening programme takes centre stage in Brown fightback | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics

200,000 deaths a year? That's halving the death rate according to this:
National Statistics Online

Remarkable things, shatshishtics



I wonder which party will be the first to promise Eternal Life......

christoph404

don't really see the link between how the tabloids collect and present information and how the Home Office does. I personnaly take everything in the tabloids with a pinch of salt, Home Office statistics at least make an attempt to present information based on impartial research and certainly don't sensationalise their findings. Its all there on their website, the high crime rate years and the lows,of course we can choose to dismiss the facts and figures as rubbish but unless we base our views on some kind of recognised research then it just boils down to personnal opinion and views, based on what we read in the papers or what we see going on outside our local pub at chucking out time.

Steve Crook

I assumed they just made it all up

Steve

christoph404

nice one.....totally agree!

BristolUK

Of course the tabloids sensationalise everything. But at least 6 or 7 murders happened on the one night. Guardian, not tabloid sensationalism.

So did the other knifings, glassings and beatings among people supposedly celebrating.

If they didn't happen they couldn't be sensationalised. I'm pretty sure that half a dozen people being murdered on one night in England - especially when people are celebrating, you know, happy? - is not usual. I'm quite sure that so many knifings and glassings in one night in Bristol is not 'the norm' either.

We should be horrified by it not making shameful jokes about it being a quiet night.

We all know statistics can be made to mean different things. Don't stats show knife and gun crimes are up? The chances of being a victim years ago might statistically be the same as now. Or greater. The important factor is that one is more likely to be the victim of assault by lethal weapon and therefore less likely to survive than before.

Perhaps the biggest difference between 'then' and 'now' is that 'back then' any bad stuff would have happened in certain places and after certain times.

One could pretty much avoid problems by avoiding those places and times.

Now you're at risk of assault going to your car after work or walking through town in the afternoon. With the added bonus of someone videoing the action on their mobile.

penfold

No, you're not. You really are not....didn't your folks never tell you not to believe everything you read in the papers?? Honestly, as someone who has lived and worked in Bristol for 25 years, it is a far, far, far safer place now than when I first came here. And from what I see of other cities...Nottingham and London mostly, the same is true there. Of course, that doesn't stop people killing each other, but it was always thus...and it tends not to be random acts in the street, but people with motives. These facts, naturally, don't sell papers or suit their crackpot pro-tory agendas, so you wouldn't know that over there in Canada.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

All British newspapers are now effectively tabloids (in attitude if not in size and shape). They are all looking for stories they can hype and sensationalise. They are all owned by a very few people (often family concerns like the Murdoch, Barclay and Myners families) and they all have their own agenda and their own spin to put on the stories. The Guardian is slightly better than the others and does usually admit its mistakes.

You said before that you used to go out every night but never saw any fights. I think you must have either gone home early, had blinkers on or have been in an unusually quiet town. There have always been fights as part of the great British public going out and enjoying themselves. But they don't involve everyone. They are nearly all teenage boys fighting with other teenage boys, usually ones that they know. It's easy to avoid them now just as it was easy to avoid them 30+ years ago when I was a teenager.

Yes, it's a shame when so many young men get killed. We all wish it didn't happen. But it does happen. It has always happened, it will always happen. That's what young men do. They get into arguments and fights, they lock antlers. Sometimes they hurt each other, very occasionally they kill each other.

Steve

TimR

A belated thanks to you for recommending A Canterbury Tale here. Beautiful film. Much appreciated.

Steve Crook

Glad you liked it. It's not everyone's "cup of tea". You have to slow down to the pace of it.

How about I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) as a follow up? Made the next year by the same writer, director & cinematographer team.

Steve

TimR

I have seen it - and liked it very much. Among the women in my family - wife, mother, sister - it has something of a cult status, so it is impossible to avoid. Fortunately I also think it is a fine film.

A Canterbury Tale is something entirely different from any film I have seen. I am still not clear on why it is so extraordinarily absorbing and moving. It reminds me of a legend or a myth brought to life - the same power. I am now looking out for Colonel Blimp, which I have not seen but is shown every few months on Turner Classic Movies.

We are seeing more and more British films on that channel. I See A Dark Stranger , The Way to the Stars and Thunder Rock are all on later this month. I haven't seen the last one.

Also, they are showing some little known films (at least in the US) made by a studio called Teddington - I haven't heard of it. My understanding is that it was the Warner Bros studio in Britain. One of the films is called Crown vs. Stevens , directed by Michael Powell.

penfold

I think Something Always Happens is on again too...another Powell, with real charm...more so than CrownVStevens, which is a bit routine.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

Yes, IKWIG is more of a romantic story whereas ACT, although it has love and romance at its heart, is more love for the countryside and the old ways. ACT definitely has that certain something though. Emeric Pressburger once said:
"I think that a film should have a good story, a clear story, and it should have, if possible, something which is probably the most difficult thing - it should have a little bit of magic . . . Magic being untouchable and very difficult to cast, you can't deal with it at all. You can only try to prepare some nests, hoping that a little bit of magic will slide into them."
Well the nests were well prepared and the magic definitely settled in the for ACT.

It's strange, because it is quite an elusive story. The reaction from a lot of people is a sort of "Yes, it's nice, but what's it about?" The mystery at the beginning is soon resolved and it changes from a whodunit to a whydunit. And then there are those beautiful little interludes like the boys' river battle or Bob & Alison in the cart, which don't seem to progress the story at all but really add to the feel of a lazy summer's day.

And it does have a message, watch how Colpepper changes. We must be aware of the past but we don't have to become locked in it.


As for TCM (US), they are doing a great job in promoting some less well known British films. Often with the assistance of people like Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's multi Oscar winning editor and Michael Powell's widow. On 25 November last she was their guest presenter and introduced Green for Danger (1946), The Edge of the World (1937), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and Age of Consent (1969). The last 3 being by Michael Powell.

As penfold says, the one to really watch out for is Something Always Happens (1934). Given its budget and the speed at which it was made, it's a lovely piece of work.

In fact I hadn't realised they were doing another run and I've just checked their schedule for January:
16 Jan 09:00 The Edge of the World (1937)
17 Jan 09:45 Something Always Happens (1934)
17 Jan 13:45 Crown vs. Stevens (1936)
22 Jan 03:30 The Red Shoes (1948)
All times Eastern

Enjoy

Steve