Punishment Park - Peter Watkins 1971

Punishment Park is an eerie faux-doc that pits a group of of left-wing, freedom-fighting devotee’s against a Government gone wild. The 37-year-old film was shot on 16mm in the deserts of California, giving it a terrifying Blair Witch meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre, all-hope-is-lost feel. And despite the fact that is was made in 1971, it’s easy to draw multiple parallels from the films storyline to current events. Such as the modern state of surveillance and data collection of US citizens by the government.

10 Years in the Federal Pen or 72 hours in Punishment Park? The choice is yours…

The movie was inspired by outrage at the Internal Security Act of 1950. It fictionally depicts a secret group of renegade government officials who systematically abduct citizens they have identified as “risks to internal security“. They interrogate them violently and then give them two options for atonement; doing big time in the Federal Pen or, spending 72 hours in “Punishment Park.” The problem with the Punishment Park option is that it’s located in the middle of the desert, there’s no shelter and the hippie-hating cops are armed to the teats. One of the more poignant moments of the film comes when one of the captives states that, while it might have once been honorable and right to be a Policeman or a President, the honorable thing to be now was a criminal.

Punishment Park or yesterday somewhere too close to home…?

Catch Punishment Park in the middle and you might think what you’re watching is real. Punishment Park is gripping and impossible to look away from, just like that car crash you passed on your way out of Vegas. Although Cherrybomb must admit, midway through the movie, I got up to make sure all the doors and windows were locked. Then I checked my iPhone and my laptop for bugs, spy-ware and listening devices. Then, after the movie, I hid under the bed for an hour as I was convinced the Feds were coming through the door at any minute. Then I cried myself to sleep. Okay, I admit that crying myself to sleep isn’t anything new for me. With that said, even though the film will scare the liberal shit out of you, Punishment Park deserves a place in your Netflicks queue.

Just don’t watch it alone.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Cherrybombed, Culture, Film, Guns Kill People, Politrics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.