Review of Punishment Park (1971) by Michael K — 31 Dec 2007

I wasn't quite sure how this was going to pan out. Presented as documentary set a few years further into the Vietnam War in an American society in which liberties have been erased in protection of the government's right to govern I had reservations of how this would work.

Although fictional, first person accounts form inspiration for several of the scenes, most notably in the tribunals. Unshirking in its approach to the way the US government was dealing with what it described as subversion it felt like someone had taken a slice of the American political consciousness of that time.

It was an amazingly powerful film with as much relevance in today's world as it had then. Highly recommended.