One of the most interesting aspects of Punishment Park was the use of jump cutting between the people who were being sentenced and the people who were already in the park. This seemed to add to the realism of the piece because we are seeing how people arrive in the park and how people react when they are actually in the park.
The people on trial sit in the chair and try to state their points of view, even though the committee never really listens to their ideas. They are trying to do what is right but have no idea of what is in store for them. As they are being sentenced, they stand in a line, all of whom choosing punishment park over jail. If they only knew what was in store for them, they would have chosen jail in a second.
The parallel we are given of the people in the park is showing us that, even if you do make it to the flag, you will not finish the course. The people who make it did everything right to arrive at their destination, but their attempt was in vain.
The realism of the story becomes even more evident, even though it was not true, because of the parallels we are given in the film. The people on trial all choose what they think is the easy route, not knowing what is in store for them. The people in the park are soon realizing that their decision to enter the park was a mistake and the only reason for the park to was exterminate them. They could not be victorious in the park because it would not be allowed to happen and we are led to believe that those on trial will soon have the same fate.
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I also found the use of jump cutting in Punishment Park interesting - the use of this editing technique made viewing the film an interesting experience as well...in that we knew from the experiences of those already in the elements of the Park what was going to happen to those who were being sentenced. We were given a behind-the-scenes kind of look at both sides, which was a different kind of viewing experience for this student.
From the jump cutting, the viewer could also speculate what kind of "crimes" the people in the park had committed and how "fair" their trials had been. I think it also gave the feeling that this was a cycle that was going to continue. On a more hopeful note, the cycle proposes that there will always be another group of young activists to take the place of the "retired".
I also found the jump cutting between the two groups interesting. Watkins wanted to get across to the audience that this will happen over and over again with different faces of the rebels but the same faces of the tribunal committee and the police force with the same results when they meet.
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