It is one of the most unusual films I've watched. It was filmed in August 1970 after Richard Nixon had expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia and after the killing of four students at Kent State University. One needs to remember this context when watching the film 50 years later.
Essentially Watkins takes a docu-drama approach to what could have happened if Richard Nixon had invoked the McCarran Act of 1950 that allowed the detention of "subversive" people in concentration camps without trial.
"Punishment Park" shows mostly young people rounded up for their radical ideas and actions and tried by a Peoples Court procedure authorized by Presidential decree. Persons found guilty could either choose to go directly to prison for sentences ranging from 7 to 21 years or attempt to earn their freedom in a desert-based Punishment Park trek of 53 miles to an American flag. In the trek, they are pursued by National Guard soldiers and local police officers as part of their training exercise. If caught, they are sent to prison for their sentence.
European documentary crews follow two groups of prisoners -- one is a group following the trek in the desert, the other is a group undergoing trial at the edge of the park. Some of the characters are based in the personalities of members of the Chicago Seven. The desert trek ends badly.
I identified with the conscientious objector on trial who was a complete pacifist and who quoted Aquinas and Augustine back to the judges in countering their just war arguments.
Most of the film's dialogue was improvised, and the film was shot with handheld 16mm cameras to underscore the documentary effect. The actors were non-professionals and many were leftist activists or political conservatives in their own right.
"Punishment Park" is a strong statement about the fascist underbelly that lurked in the USA in 1970 and the political polarization that has taken place in USA society. I found it quite moving.
Essentially Watkins takes a docu-drama approach to what could have happened if Richard Nixon had invoked the McCarran Act of 1950 that allowed the detention of "subversive" people in concentration camps without trial.
"Punishment Park" shows mostly young people rounded up for their radical ideas and actions and tried by a Peoples Court procedure authorized by Presidential decree. Persons found guilty could either choose to go directly to prison for sentences ranging from 7 to 21 years or attempt to earn their freedom in a desert-based Punishment Park trek of 53 miles to an American flag. In the trek, they are pursued by National Guard soldiers and local police officers as part of their training exercise. If caught, they are sent to prison for their sentence.
European documentary crews follow two groups of prisoners -- one is a group following the trek in the desert, the other is a group undergoing trial at the edge of the park. Some of the characters are based in the personalities of members of the Chicago Seven. The desert trek ends badly.
I identified with the conscientious objector on trial who was a complete pacifist and who quoted Aquinas and Augustine back to the judges in countering their just war arguments.
Most of the film's dialogue was improvised, and the film was shot with handheld 16mm cameras to underscore the documentary effect. The actors were non-professionals and many were leftist activists or political conservatives in their own right.
"Punishment Park" is a strong statement about the fascist underbelly that lurked in the USA in 1970 and the political polarization that has taken place in USA society. I found it quite moving.