Punishment Park
Directed by Peter Watkins
Reviewed by Catherine MacLennan
Punishment Park, directed by Peter Watkins, "the most neglected major filmmaker today,"1 is a political allegory set in the US featuring a brutal chase and capture game of dissidents by the establishment and their national guard/police henchmen. It came out in 1971, a time of massive protests against Nixon and the Vietnam War; the references in the film are specific to the period: the protestors express their disgust at the 'imperialist war' at the tribunal members while a huge picture of Nixon hangs over the proceedings; the gagging of a black protestor recalls Bobby Seale's gagging at the Chicago 7 trial; and the shooting of the protestors evokes the shootings by the National Guard at Kent State in 1970.
While its impact would have been greatest at its time of release (and it is frustrating to read that it did not get on many screens), it is still an interesting film to watch in 2003. Perhaps especially in 2003, for it can be viewed unmistakably as a product of 1971 but it in this year of another US war/invasion, many of the viewpoints of the film are surfacing again. War is a time of clearly delineated sides. The contemptuous establishment vs the pacifists and activists; the twisting of language by the warmongers to accuse the anti-war of violence; the McCarran Act and today's Patriot Act; the 'imperialist invasion' and today's imperialist invasion, whoops, 'preemptive intervention.' Watkins accurately captures the climate of warring sides, and the vulnerable position of those opposed to war. Even as the dissidents are running for their lives in the Punishment Park 'game,' they begin to split up amongst themselves as the resisting side is prone to do politically, between those who believe they can win the game (work with their oppressors), to those who want to shoot back, to those who struggle on wearily, not knowing their fate. Watkins films are truly unique and amazing. I caught his 5-hour, 45 min film La Commune at the Pacific Cinematheque last year. Also a stunningly original political work - set in the Paris Commune of 1871, again, of film of war, sides, struggle. Both film share a 'pretend documentary' aspect to them, and the documentarist or television crew sometimes enter the film asking questions of the players. This is has a more humourous aspect to it in 1871 Paris, but the concept of TV crew in 1871 aids in the film's transition from the then of its first part to the now of its second which features a lively open discussion of today's issues and struggles of inequality, racism and globalization. While Punishment Park seemed a still relevant film in today's war environment, La Commune's intention and success is its conscious blending the past and the present.