Review of Battle in Seattle (2007) by Walter M — 27 Oct 2008

[font=Century Gothic]While "Battle in Seattle" may not exactly be in the same league as "Bloody Sunday" (using unfamiliar actors would have definitely added to the realism), it is still an impressively effective dramatization of the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle with footage of the actual events mixed in. In order to make us understand what there is to protest, the movie starts with a brief history of the World Trade Organization(WTO). Trust me. It is not pretty.[/font].

[font=Century Gothic]What however is, is the first shot of the movie of a protester(Michelle Rodriguez) hanging from a crane over downtown Seattle, successfully hanging a banner under the direction of Jay(Martin Henderson), the coordinator of the peaceful protests which the mayor(Ray Liotta) has allowed under the false presumption that they cannot halt the WTO meetings which are meant to give the city some prestige. On the first day, the protesters outflank his police and disrupt downtown, even as Dr. Maric(Rade Serbedzija) of Doctors without Borders, and Abassi(Isaach De Bankole), an African representative, hope to get their voices heard inside the barricades.[/font].

[font=Century Gothic]While "Battle in Seattle" tells the story of these fateful days from a variety of viewpoints which also include a television reporter(Connie Nielsen) and a policeman(Woody Harrelson) whose pregnant wife(Charlize Theron), a store clerk who is caught up in the mayhem in downtown, the main focus is on the protesters(But nothing on the anarchists, though.) with some unnecessary backstory added in. The question should not be why the protesters were there but why there were not more people since a citizen's responsibilty does not simply end with the vote. And a protest is not about winning or losing, but about making one's collective voice heard by an organization that is uninterested in listening to the common people. This particular protest was the start of something special, as one character remarks that this is the first protest of the age of the internet.[/font].