Punishment Park Details

Powerfull

As the narrator reads out the 'law' that allows America to set up this punishment park shivers will run down your spine. Even though this docu-drama from 1971 was called pure fantasy on it's short release it seems more prophetic now. The plot surrounds hearings of protesters and draft dodgers and militants who are then offered long federal sentance or a short spell in punishment park, a police and national guard training camp. To say this film becomes a nightmare is an understatement and should raise questions in us all. The documentary feel is utterly convincing and becomes hard to watch at times. I do suggest watching Peter Watkins introduction after the film as I believe you should see this fresh without many of the comments he quotes.

[Highly rated reviewer]

1970's cinema strikes again

Made in 1971, this film may seem dated and the arguments in it polorized, but it’s about a governments organised oppression of it’s own people, a violent conflict of ideologies, isolated detention centres used for physical and mental torture.

It’s shot in a documentary style and the actors seem more like they’re living through it rather than acting it. From 1971 to 2006 and the thing I felt most was, the more things change, the more they stay the same.