Punishment Park (1971) on Netflix
Under emergency laws, activists convicted by tribunals choose prison or three days in Punishment Park: fifty miles of desert, hunted by police and National Guard. Film crews record the race.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb7.7/108,660 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes92%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a near future where the Vietnam War is escalating, Seoul is under bombardment and Soviet submarines are moving off Cuba, President Richard Nixon moves toward emergency laws that allow the detention of people suspected of civil rights, anti-war or women's rights activity. Those rounded up are brought before tribunals, and the convicted may serve a prison term or take part in a punishment park. In the park they must cross fifty miles of desert within three days to reach an American flag, promised water and amnesty, while police and National Guard pursue them. A film crew from Great Britain and another from West Germany receive permission to record one such park in southern California. While Group 638 stands before the tribunal, Group 637 is already walking.
Cast
- Patrick Bolandas First Tribunal Defendant
- Luke Johnsonas Defendant in the tribunal
- Katherine Quittneras Nancy Smith
- Scott Turneras James Arthur Kohler, Tribunal Defendant
- Stan Armstedas Charles Robbins
- Mary Ellen Kleinhallas Allison Mitchner
- Mark Keatsas William C. Hoeger, Tribunal Chairman
- Gladys Goldenas Mary Jurgens, Tribunal Member
- Sanford Goldenas Sen. Harris
- George Gregoryas Mr. Keagan
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Punishment Park (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While filming a scene in which Group 637 is shot at, the actors pelted the guards with stones, and the actors playing guards fired back without warning, dropping two actors to the ground. Director Peter Watkins, sure they had really been shot, shouted "Cut! Cut!", and his shocked reaction was kept in the finished film.
- When his planned trilogy of films collapsed, British filmmaker Peter Watkins stayed in the United States because of the 1970 Kent State Massacre. With producer Susan Martin he first planned a documentary about the Chicago Seven, but encounters with young activists during casting and his discovery of the McCarran Internal Security Act led him to concoct Punishment Park.
- Punishment Park was heavily attacked when it showed at the 1971 New York Film Festival, and Hollywood studios refused to distribute it.
- The film was shot in only two and a half weeks with a minimal set: a tent enclosed inside a larger tent for the interior scenes. Its newsreel look came from desaturating the color and using Harrison diffusion filters to remove the image's traditional hard edge.
- Camerawoman Joan Churchill's work on the film brought her later offers for concert films and documentaries such as Soldier Girls (1981), while producer Susan Martin went on to the Vietnam documentary Hearts and Minds (1974). Punishment Park was Watkins' last film in the US; his next, Edvard Munch (1974), was made in Norway.
