Punishment Park Peter Watkins

directed by Peter Watkins
USA 1971

Both controversial and relentless in its depiction of suppression and brutality, Punishment Park was heavily attacked by the mainstream press and permitted only the barest of releases in 1971. However, like Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool (1969) and Robert Kramer's Ice (1969), Peter Watkins' film has established itself as one of the key, yet rarely seen, radical films of the late 1960s/early 1970s. Giving voice to the disaffected youth of America that had lived through the campus riots at Berkeley, the trial of the Chicago Seven and who were witnessing the escalation of the Vietnam War, Punishment Park was named by Rolling Stone as one of their top ten films of 1971 and has earned many admirers in the four decades since its release.

Set in a detention camp in an America of the near-future, Punishment Park's pseudo-documentary style (continuing Watkins' subversive innovations with Culloden and The War Game) places a British film crew amongst a group of young students and minor dissidents who have opted to spend three days in 'Bear Mountain Punishment Park'. The detainees, rather than accept lengthy jail sentences for their 'crimes', gamble their freedom on an attempt to reach an American flag — on foot and without water — through the searing heat of the desert. The pursuit of Group 637 — a lethal, one-sided game of cat-and-mouse with a squad of heavily armed police and National Guardsmen — is contrasted with the corrupt trial of Group 638 by a quasi-judicial tribunal.

Unlike Easy Rider's mythologising of American counter-culture, Punishment Park's uncompromising stance, and its uneasy parallels with Guantanamo Bay, retain a powerful and prescient message in the post-9/11 present.

Posters etc.

Theatrical Release: March 14th, 73' - TV in Sweden

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DVD Comparison:

Eureka - Region 2 - PAL vs. New Yorker - Region 1- NTSC

(Eureka - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. New Yorker - Region 1- NTSC RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Eureka (Masters of Cinema spine # 21) - Region 2 - PAL	New Yorker Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:27:24	1:27:54
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.28 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.69 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Eureka
Bitrate: NY'er
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0) - Director's Commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0) - Director's Commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, None	English, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Eureka Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • 30-minute video introduction by Peter Watkins • Full-length audio commentary by Dr. Joseph A. Gomez (author of the 1979 book Peter Watkins) • 32-page booklet with two essays and reprints DVD Release Date: October, 2005 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 12	Release Information: Studio: New Yorker Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • 30-minute video introduction by Peter Watkins • Full-length audio commentary by Dr. Joseph A. Gomez (author of the 1979 book Peter Watkins) • Short: The Forgotten Faces (18:09- with optional French or English subtitles) • Text Essay by Scott MacDonald • Original 1971 Press Kit • Peter Watkins Filmography • 24-page booklet with reprint from the Joseph A. Gomez book *Peter Watkins* DVD Release Date: November 22nd, 2005 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

ADDITION: New Yorker - NTSC - November 2005 - The New Yorker version is from an unconverted PAL source and hence has visible combing (see last 2 capture comparison images). Depending upon the system you are viewing it on the prevalence will vary. Neither release has extensive cropping. The NY'er is slightly more hazy than the Eureka and appears to have a greenish filter to it. I actually prefer the NY'er subtitles and they do offer optional French ones as well - they are slightly more discreet. In the area of extras both have the Watkins introduction and both have the Gomez commentary. The New Yorker includes a few more tidbits including a 20 minute Peter Watkins short film entitled The Forgotten Faces. Both DVD editions have something to offer but technically the Eureka MoC release has a big edge in image where the NY'er has nudged ahead in extra features. Not that it should make a difference - but I prefer the look of the NY'er menus over the Eureka, although both are very nice.

****

There are some very poor editions of this film on DVD, but surely this, by far, is the best - a high-definition transfer (originally shot on 16mm, Punishment Park has been remastered from a new 35mm print struck from the restored 35mm blow-up negative held in Paris). Progressive and beautifully rendered the colors and sharpness are excellent. This is typical of the sterling quality that we have come to expect from Eureka's MoC series, who appear to be surpassing even Criterion in their level of excellence. Booklet, commentary, introduction - a full spectrum of extra features and we see no reason not to give this out of .