Fresh
Shot during the post-Kent State "law and order" election of 1970, Punishment Park can seem so outrageous as to verge on camp, but few other movies capture so painfully the rhetoric and desperation of the times.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Punishment Park
One of the most controversial films ever made.
1971 · 1h 28m · R
Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Peter Watkins
Overview
In this fictional documentary, U.S. prisons are at capacity, and President Nixon declares a state of emergency. All new prisoners, most of whom are connected to the antiwar movement, are now given the choice of jail time or spending three days in Punishment Park, where they will be hunted for sport by federal authorities. The prisoners invariably choose the latter option, but learn that, between the desert heat and the brutal police officers, their chances of survival are slim.
Director and cast
- Peter Watkins Director
- Patrick Boland as Tribunal Defendant
- Carmen Argenziano as Jay Kaufman (Tribunal Defendant)
- Kent Foreman as Lee Robert Brown (Tribunal Defendant)
- Luke Johnson as William Luke Valerio (Tribunal Defendant)
- Katherine Quittner as Nancy Jane Smith (Tribunal Defendant)
- Scott Turner as James Arthur Kohler (Tribunal Defendant)
- Stan Armsted as Charles Robbins (Tribunal Defendant)
- Mary Ellen Kleinhall as Allison Mitchner (Tribunal Defendant)
- Mark Keats as William C. Hoeger (Tribunal Chairman)
- Gladys Golden as Mary Jurgens (Tribunal Member)
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
92%
Tomatometer
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