Punishment Park.

Title: Punishment Park

Director: Peter Watkins
Released: 1971
Starring: Patrick Boland, Kent Foreman, Carmen Argenziano, Luke Johnson, Katherine Quittner, Scott Turner, Stanford Armstead, Mary Ellen Kleinhall, Mark Keats, Gladys Golden, Sanford Golden, Normal Sinclair, Sigmund Rich, Paul Rosenstein

Plot: A pseudo-documentary set in an alternative 1970, with President Nixon declaring a state of emergency giving federal authorities the power to detain persons judged to be a “risk to internal security”. Now these detainees are faced with either serving their full conviction time in federal prison or three days in Punishment Park to win their freedom.

 

Review: You’d be forgiven for going into this expecting another “Turkey Shoot” or “Battle Royale” as this film is pretty much the opposite despite the setup. Here instead we get a commentary on the social and political tensions of the time, as British director Peter Watkins draws inspiration from events such as the Kent State shootings, the trial of the Chicago Seven aswell as political polarisation to craft his alternative history which unsurprisingly was released to much criticism at the time, especially with a British director making a film essentially designed to highlight the American political problems in a time of crisis, while it also managed to also spark claims of Communism.

Shot in a cinema verite style using hand held cameras, aswell as a shoe string budget of a mere $95,000 Watkins really sells the faux documentary style even if Watkins here also playing the role of the narrator does sound like Eric Idle’s documentary maker Nigel on “The Simpsons” which proved kind of distracting but perfectly suited the tone of the film he’s making while frequently providing the voice of the audience especially towards the end of the film when he starts becoming more vocal in highlighting the flaws in this openly corrupt system.

Despite existing on an alternative history timeline it is one which is still familiar, let alone one which still rings true even years after the film’s release. Splitting its attention between two separate groups with one being filmed as they face a civilian tribunal to decide their sentence , the other group being filmed at the start of their time in Punishment Park . This second group we soon learn are faced with playing what is essentially a game of capture the flag, as they have to get through 53 miles of the California desert in three days without food or water, while at the same time being used for field training for the Nation guard and police tasked to chase and stop reaching the target American flag at the end of the course. If any of the group is captured by either of these forces they will have to serve their sentence in federal prison.

These groups are mainly made up of what was considered to be the biggest threats at the time, so anti-establishment hippies and draft –dodgers none of which acts as any kind of mouthpiece with Charles Robbins character, one of the few who attempts to fight back against this corrupt tribunal system almost immediately is gagged and handcuffed by the military police in attendance. As such we get scattered bits and pieces, of the individuals beliefs and reasons for them being sent here, but nothing to really define any one person as being a hero or villain of the piece as Watkins maintains the audiences place as that of the onlooker.

The scenes in Punishment Park are gruelling to watch as the group are essentially sent on a death march across the desert with nothing in way of supplies, while only being further taunted by the system who promise water and supplies at the half way point only for the group to soon discover said water is nothing but a tap stuck into the ground and not actually connected to anything. It’s frustrating to watch especially when you remember that these people are only here because of the fact that they choose to believe different than what the government feels that they should conform to. At the same time none of these individuals are able to provide any kind of clear idea for creating the kind of Utopia that they seemingly stand for creating with their actions which landed them in this situation.

The only clear cut idea we do get here is that of force as the solution as the military police and soldiers taunt them with attack dogs, while using billy clubs and random executions to enforce their will. These individuals clearly viewing the world in a more black and white sense were those who oppose the governments will must either conform or face being re-educated via the use of violence and intimidation. Unsurprisingly its only a matter of time before these tactics create a division in the group, with half attempting to fight back with violence against their guards only to bleakly be quickly quashed, leaving the other group to continue to try and beat the game by following the rules being enforced only to essentially suffer the same fate by the ending which comes with a bleak sense of hopelessness which might not sit well with some, but one which perfectly suits the tone of the film.

The only real character we see (or should that be hear) evolve over the course of the film is the narrator, who starts off with a detached style as he makes bland observations about weather conditions, temperatures in the desert and names of characters as the camera singles them out, while at the same time providing just enough information on the situation happening around to keep the viewer as confused as they informed about what they are watching. However as the flaws in this system start to be uncovered he starts to become more objective about what he is seeing with the film being to him hysterically shouting at Sheriff Edwards (Bohan) whose men are ruthlessly beating down and killing the group members, only to find him viewing the situation with chilling disregard even when informed that their actions are being filmed by the documentary crew his response is only one of

“I’ve been on film before, that doesn’t make a bit of difference to me”

A scene which only further reinforces how true these enforcers believe their actions must like the government they represent to be.

Something of an obscurity the film makes for a interesting watch, even if it is far from the most action packed film, it handles its political theme a lot more coherently than many of the protest / political films of the period such as Jean-Luc Godard’s abysmal “Sympathy For The Devil” making it worth hunting down if only to further your film education.

Bernie

Title: Bernie

Director: Richard Linklater
Released: 2011
Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Mathew McConaughey

Plot:  Shot in a documentary style, the film tells Bernie’s story in particular the friendship he struck up with the wealthy and recently widowed Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) who was widely dispised by the other townsfolk, due to her frequently cold and unpleasant nature, with the film especially focusing on the events leading up to Bernie shooting her several times from behind. A crime only made all the more bizarre by the fact that he was so popular with the local townsfolk that despite him openly confessing to her murder, they still rallied to his defence.

Review: For anyone not already convinced that Jack Black is a master of disguise, especially with most associating him with his now trademark classic rock infused whirlwind style of acting, often forgetting that he was also the pilot in “Waterworld”, the lead bad guy in “The Neverending Story 3” or the annoying white Rasta in “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”, before finally making getting his breakout role in “High Fidelity” which essentially typecast him for every film which followed. Still occasionally he has shown us that he is still more than a one trick pony with films like “King Kong” and “Nacho Libre”, both showcasing different sides to him and one we refreshingly get to see again here, as he adopts a camp southern twang to play small town mortician Bernie Tiede.

A strange tale to say the least but one only made the stranger by the fact that it is a story based on true events, with director Richard Linklater using the 1998 Texas Monthly magazine article “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas” by Skip Hollandsworth who also helped to write the screenplay with Linklater, a director who has always had an affection for oddball characters. An obsession first started with his indie debut “Slacker” and one which has continued throughout his career, with Bernie being truly his kind of character.

Opening with Bernie addressing a class of student morticians through the tricks of his trade, from super gluing eyes shut, to the use of the correct amount of blush, all while highlighting each of these actions with a dash of dark humour as he throws out such great pearls of wisdom like

“We must always be on guard for the mischievous lip drift. Even the slightest hint of teeth can be disastrous. You cannot have grief tragically becoming a comedy.”

It is a scene which perfectly introduces his character and whose instant likability makes it easy to see why he was so popular amongst the townsfolk and this is even before the film moves into the largely talk head filled meat of the film, which highlights many of his good deeds within the community, aswell as the skill he handles his trade with, making the recently deceased sound better in life than they were in death including the town drunk who comes off sounding like a socialite thanks to Bernie. It is this likability which is key to the film working or failing seeing how the film essentially rests on you wanting a self-confessed murderer getting away with it. Thankfully it is something which is effortlessly portrayed by Black, who judging by the credits footage of Black in conversation with the real life Bernie Tiede the similarities between the two are the remarkable, though sadly the footage is shown without sound meaning that we never get to discover who much of a sound-alike he is aswell.

While this is essentially Black’s movie, he still receives strong support from MacLaine who is truly odious with her continuous taunting and gradually increasing mental torture she inflicts on Bernie with her nagging, possessiveness and generally acid tonged putdowns, making it none too hard to root for her demise. Equally on form is Mathew McConaughey as the D.A. Danny Buck Davidson, who’s Rottweiler like obsession with the case, is only made all the more memorable by his performance that manages to skilfully juggle moments of drama and comedy together, especially as he is frequently confounded by the views of the townsfolk who are frequently quick to leap to the defence of Bernie, even though he is openly confessed to murder and making no attempt to rally the townsfolk to his cause.

Linklater making the decision to shoot the film in a documentary style is certainly an interesting, yet certainly effective one, with the talking heads element this provides frequently giving the film many of its more memorable moments as the townsfolks give their thoughts on Bernie and the case, with the southern drawl certainly adding a quaint edge to it, while the fact that many of the townsfolk are playing themselves only continues to add to the already surreal nature of the case. Frustratingly though Linklater never really makes any attempts to understand why they are so devoted to defending him? Is it because of Bernie's charitable nature or is it more down to how he started handing out mrs Nugent's money as risk free loans to them all. Infact the only real counterargument we get to Bernie's list of good deeds is via McConaughey's Danny Buck seeming voice of reason, even though it is one we particularly don't want to listen to even though we know he is ultimately right. Equally frustrating is the lack of real insight into why Bernie is like he is, especially seeing how his acts despite seemingly being money motivated still continue today while he is incarcerated.

For one reason of another this film has only just now made it over to the UK, despite being released stateside last year, though it remains to be seen exactly what sort of wide release the film will get, with my current thoughts being that it will likely be turning up direct to DVD, but it’s still one of the most fascinating performances from Black that I have seen in a while and one which captures this truly unique story.