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Paul Alelyanes, Carmen Argenziano, Stan Armsted, Harold Beaulieu, Jim Bohan ... see more see more... , Kerry Cannon , Luke Johnson , Scott Turner , Katherine Quittner , Harold Schneider , Peter Watkins , Patrick Boland , Frederic Franklyn , Gary Johnson , Tom Kemp , Jack London

While Peter Watkins' films of the 1960s reflected the political turmoil and tumult of that decade, 1971's Punishment Park offered a disturbing look at the backlash against leftist activism which emerg... read more read more...ed in the wake of such events as the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the shootings at Kent State University. Set at some unspecified point in the near future, Punishment Park was inspired by a provision of the 1950 McCarran Internal Security Act, which gives the President of the United States the right to suspend the traditional judicial system in favor of tribunals to deal with people believed to be "a risk to internal security" in the event of what the Chief Executive deems a national emergency. As the McCarran Act also enabled political prisoners to be held in concentration camps rather than conventional penal facilities, Punishment Park follows a group of left-wing dissidents (Black Power activists, antiwar protesters, and a politically oriented folksinger, among others) as they're given a perfunctory hearing by a panel of military officers and ordinary citizens. They are then offered a choice: they can either serve long stays in prison (seven years is the shortest sentence mentioned), or spend 72 hours in Punishment Park, a section of the Southern California desert. The prisoners are to travel 53 miles on foot in three days, with only minimal provisions of water or food under 110-degree heat, while they are followed by National Guard troops who are permitted to shoot if provoked. If they can complete the hike in the allotted time, they'll be allowed to go free, though it soon becomes obvious that despite the fact the odds have been stacked against them, the prisoners are being dealt an unfair hand along the trail. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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9 critics

R, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Peter Watkins

Release Date: January 1, 1971

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DVD Release Date: November 22, 2005

Stats: 238 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (238)

  • fb1142797643
    December 16, 2011
    fb1142797643
    The premise of this Peter Watkins mockumentary is an instant grabber. We're dropped into an alternate Vietnam-era America. The government is abusing an existing law (the McCarran Internal Security Act) to detain hippies who may pose a threat to the country. Groups of shaggy subve... read morersives are taken to a tent somewhere, quickly convicted in a kangaroo court and given a choice of either multiple years in prison or a risky trip to Punishment Park. Typically, they choose the latter.

    "Punishment Park" is the code name for a sadistic test where offenders are released in the California desert (without water) and told they'll be freed if, within three days, they can hike to an American flag planted 53 miles away. As if that assignment isn't tough enough, armed soldiers aggressively stalk them, giving them a mere two-hour start. Allegedly, the soldiers are there just to ensure the offenders follow the rules, but they're itching for any excuse to open fire. It's a rigged game.

    Fantastic, so far. But "Punishment Park" can turn painfully shrill and strident. The plot jumps between two separate arcs: a group of people enduring the desert trek, and a second group facing the court panel. The latter is where most of the problems lie. Though the improvised dialogue has a convincing realism, the accused's screechy, ham-fisted testimonies are a serious chore to endure. Interesting that "Punishment Park" was released the same year as "Billy Jack," because the films are gratingly unsubtle and sanctimonious in a similar way.

    While the stereotypical defendants rage about the war, man, and the government telling them to do stuff, the dozen or so Punishment Park youths split into three factions (separated in the credits as "militants," "semi-militants" and "pacifists"). Some mount a preemptive attack on the soldiers. Some try to slog through the full trip. And some just give up. None of these strategies are likely to pay off.

    The outdoor struggles are stark and dramatic, but there's one bit of poetic license that's not quite forgivable. An unseen cameraman (voiced by Watkins himself) follows the weary travelers, and even becomes a plot point when he eventually protests the soldiers' unfair tactics. But while the prisoners grow more and more dehydrated and exhausted, there is no sense of the cameraman deteriorating -- even though he's carrying all that technical gear! The film could have been more interesting if the footage quality wobbled as its maker also neared water-deprived delirium.

    The amateur cast has no familiar faces beyond character actor Carmen Argenziano, but veteran jazz drummer Paul Motian composed the soundtrack. "Punishment Park" never found a distributor in the States, due to its controversial story.

    The closing credits add an ironic note that an actor who played one of the courtroom rebels soon drew a real-life prison sentence for assaulting a police officer.
  • gator681
    March 26, 2011
    gator681
    "Punishment Park" is a chilling pseudo-documentary about political prisoners being sentenced before a judge and tribunal in violation of the Constitution. They are then given the choice between a lengthy jail sentence or Punishment Park. At such a place, they are given 3 days t... read moreo run 53 miles in boiling heat with a two hour head start.

    Even though the movie was made in 1971 and references the Chicago 7 trial(with more gender balance here) and the Kent State shooting, "Punishment Park" still has relevance for the modern day, especially considering events after 9/11 including Guantanamo Bay, extraordinary rendition and the Patriot Act. While police brutality is nowhere near as bad as it once was, if I see a policeman or a soldier patrolling Penn Station, I am not reassured because I am just reminded why they are there in the first place.

    All of which is just a starting point for director Peter Watkins to explore the idea of pacifism in a larger context. While some might view pacifists as extremists in their own right, their role is actually much more important as they seek to explore a better way than violence. So, admit it guys. Intervention in Libya has less to do with protecting civilians than a chance to oust Qaddafi while somebody else does the heavy lifting.
  • shitfaced8
    December 12, 2010
    shitfaced8
    A furious faux documentary made in 1971, that really encapsulates the social unrest and animosties from both sides of the fence of that era. The deal is political prisoners are given a choice between prison terms of various length or three days in punishment park, where they are ... read moreto play a sort of capture the flag game. This game is also to serve as a training ground for police, national guard and military personel. The results are very violent, the performances impassioned and the overall effect unsettling. Unlike anything I've ever seen, and put simply probably the angriest film I've ever seen. Strongly Recommended.
  • alanjayh
    May 24, 2010
    alanjayh
    Searing and provocative message film about the turmoil in the early 70's and how the government could have reacted; Watkins is excellent as posing "What If" questions, then laying out a chilling scenario. The film has a very real feel to it, although the desert scenes were rathe... read morer predictable. I thought the banter between the tribunal members and the dissidents was more powerful. This is certainly a film that forces you to think and should not be missed.
  • jimbotender
    January 6, 2010
    jimbotender
    For what purpose regimes order, guide, attract the public's notion?Why,by focusing in their weaknesses of,whatever that means...or to justify their policies through old-fashioned,hyper-conservative declarations!As frightening as it sounds,Watkins' embodiment of evil isn't necessa... read morerily the fallen generation behind desks,rather the perpetual line of conformism,lying preferably in the Westernized landscapes of the Machine aka the men behind the curtains of authority.
  • columbiatch
    January 15, 2008
    columbiatch
    Watkin's faux documentary style makes excellent use of montage to manipulate the audience. He depicts the victims in the film as stereotypical hippies/pacifists while the interrogators are outrageous caricatures of McCarthyist self-righteous pricks. Half of the film consist of th... read moree interrogation of these people, who exchange trite statements like "War is immoral, poverty is immoral, racism is immoral, police brutality is immoral, oppression is immoral...". While the film still is somewhat relevant, it's more intended to shock and provoke than to provide much insight into the nature of dissent/violence.
  • Cvalda
    January 9, 2008
    Cvalda
    Quite possibly the most disturbing and realistic faux-documentary ever made, Punishment Park immediately establishes itself within the first 10 minutes as a chilling work of genius; the whole film, right from the start, feels so horrifyingly real, helped considerabl... read morey by the fact that all the left wing radicals in the film are played by actual left wing radicals, and the oppressive cops and right wingers are all played by people not too far off from their characters.

    Switching between a group of "subversives" being subjected to the death race of the title, and another group being grilled at a tribunal by a bunch of right wing scumbags, the film is brilliantly edited, impeccably acted by the "cast", and feels terribly, disturbingly relevant today. It does feel dated in many ways by the cultural landscape of the time - references to Vietnam, the draft, and Kent State abound - but it doesn't take much imagination to substitute more modern developments, and you immediately have a scary picture of some aspects of our current political culture. The tribunal scenes, where dim old patrio-fascists - all white men, except for a woman who is a representative of a Focus on the Family-type organization and is described as a "homemaker" - condemn hippies to death or prison for threatening to instigate change in the government via revolution, are both despairingly realistic and darkly funny. The accused spout slogans and do their best to argue against their oppressors, who either shout them down or have them gagged. Meanwhile, out in the punishment park, the cops and National Guardsmen who are being "trained" on the course show themselves to be self-righteous good ol' boys who like the power a rifle gives them, and then try and justify their governmentally-sanctioned sadism by saying "we're just doing what the taxpayers pay us to do".

    Documenting all of this is a British camera crew, the narrator of which is played by the director himself. As the prisoners in the park try to reach the flag without being killed by the 'pigs', and the prisoners at the tribunal rail in vain against the establishment (the 'homemaker', humorously, accuses every prisoner on trial of being 'immoral' and a 'threat to my children!'), the film becomes increasingly grim and brutal, and director Peter Watkins' editing brilliantly undercuts the characters' dialogue with contradictory news reports, or quickly cuts to and away from a character saying something that reveals their monstrosity or ignorance. So stunning is his work here, that I am now inspired to hunt down everything in his filmography. The hand-held cinematography is accomplished, and the score is a simple, menacing suite of atonal, reverberating metallic percussion. Punishment Park is a difficult film to analyze, due to its striking complexity and chilling realism, and it can make for difficult viewing - but it is a brilliantly made, captivating film that is perhaps even more chilling today than it was over thirty years ago.
  • jillyannesmith
    September 13, 2007
    jillyannesmith
    Flawed and somewhat dated, Punishment Park still has moments of power and poignancy. This movie is an intense study of all that is aggravating and enraging about humanity.
  • profwagstaff
    August 7, 2007
    profwagstaff
    Amazing film that is as prophetic, unfortunately, as 1984. See it. Tell your friends about it. And, above all, think about it.
  • ReBurn
    June 13, 2007
    ReBurn
    This movie really set my thoughts into motion. For a while all of my disbelief was suspended and I thought that these things really happened in America. Then it made me wonder, given the current situation in the world, If it could happen again.

View All Punishment Park Reviews

Critic Reviews

J. Hoberman
May 11, 2010
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Shot during the post-Kent State "law and order" election of 1970, Punishment Park can seem so outrageous as to verge on camp, but few other movies capture so painfully the rhetoric and desperation of ... Full Review

Anton Bitel
August 3, 2007
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film

an extraordinary film - provocative, incendiary and deeply depressing. Go out of your way to see it and spread the word, while you still can without being arrested. Full Review

Phil Hall
December 30, 2005
Phil Hall, Film Threat

A wooly curio. Full Review

Chris Barsanti
November 22, 2005
Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

a troubling document from a time when the country seemed about to tip into chaos Full Review

Jeremiah Kipp
November 14, 2005
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

Punishment Park is told in the pseudo-documentary style that defines most of the obscure body of work by British filmmaker Peter Watkins. Full Review

Leo Goldsmith
June 21, 2005
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The film is as widely applicable to our own factious state of the union as it was to that of America in the 1970s. Full Review

Shane Burridge
April 22, 2003
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

Watkins' convincing cinema-verite style contradicts what we know is an historical untruth Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 22, 2003
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It is a polemic exercise between the Left and the Right, with no room for the middle point of view. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

July 8, 2005
Empire Magazine

Click to read the article Full Review

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