Punishment Park

Punishment Park is a film that comments on America's harsh punishment of people who try to stand up for what they believe in, or refused to conform to the status quo. The "trials" before the ridiculously bureaucratic panel of judges was entertaining, yet made me furious at the treatment of the prisoners. Made in the 80s by a British director, it spoke of the unjust ways this country's goverment treated "threats" to democracy in the 1960s and 70s. The ending was infuriating in that the police officers changed the rules at the last minute, claiming that they had every right to. Perhaps this was Watkins' comment about the corruption of the police force. I liked how Watkins interspersed the interviews throughout the film, in between scenes of the prisoners trekking miserably through the course. If those in the interview room had the knowledge we had, they would have just taken the jail time. The sounds of panting, struggling and coughing were heard over the desert sequences, which, when paired with seeing the prisoners dragging themselves along, made the viewer feel the exhausted hopelessness of their situation.