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CINEMA OF PETER WATKINS (SET)
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"The most prescient, innovative, and accomplished of overlooked English-language movie masters," says Amy Taubin (Artforum International) of British television director turned documentary/narrative film trailblazer Peter Watkins. This set includes: his epic pseudo-documentary Culloden (Great Britain, 1964, 75 mins.), based on a re-staging of the   18th century battle in which Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated; War Game (Great Britain, 1965, 47 mins.), an unnerving documentary-style film showing what could happen if Britain came under a nuclear attack; The Gladiators (USA/Sweden/France, 1969, 91 mins., English, Swedish and French  with English subtitles), a taut, intelligent thriller and a groundbreaking     work of dystopian filmmaking; the sophisticated and frightening satire Punishment Park (USA, 1971, 88 mins.), which shows a fascist America in  the aftermath of Vietnam; the extended European television version of Watkins' docudrama Edvard Munch (Norway/Sweden, 1976, 220 mins., Norwegian with   English subtitles); and finally The Freethinker (Sweden, 1994, 274         mins., Swedish with English subtitles), the director's challenging examination Peter Watkins---Great Britain/USA/Sweden/France/Norway---1964-1994---520 mins.
EDVARD MUNCH (2-DISCS)
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Considered by some the greatest film about an artist ever made, Peter Watkins'   feature focuses on Munch's formative years, a life marked by the absence of      intimacy. "A long, abortive affair with an older woman joins the ubiquitous      ghosts of a childhood scarred by sickness and death. In the end, it's the      paintings which do Munch's talking for him. A remarkable film" (Giovanni       Dadomo). With Geir Westby, Gro Fraas and Iselin von Hanno Bart. In Norwegian   Peter Watkins---Norway/Sweden---1976---220 mins.
FREETHINKER, THE
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The maker of the acclaimed docudrama Edvard Munch directs this examination of the life and works of the great nineteenth century Swedish dramatist, August Strindberg. It was produced as part of a full-length video production course and took the director and his students more than two years to finish. "The Freethinker is another magnificently challenging and moving work from one of the cinema's truly distinctive artists" (Piers Handling, Toronto Int'l Film Festival). In Swedish and English with optional     Peter Watkins---Sweden---1994---274 mins.
GLADIATORS, THE (WATKINS)
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A groundbreaking work of dystopian filmmaking from the great Peter Watkins (Punishment Park), this taut, intelligent thriller (sometimes titled Gladiatorerns) posits a world in which UN-sponsored war games are regularly held to divert mankind's aggressive instincts. In Game 256, the members of a military team must battle deadly obstacles devised by a sophisticated supercomputer. At once an action thriller and a treatise on violence and the dangerous potential of mass media, here "Watkins proves himself sharp, cold and glittering as fine steel" (New York Magazine).   In English, Swedish, and French with English subtitles.  Peter Watkins---USA/Sweden/France---1969---91 mins.
LA COMMUNE (PARIS 1871)
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A towering achievement from one of the greatest of all historical filmmakers,    Peter Watkins' La Commune is an experimental documentary that captures     the pivotal historical moment of the Paris Commune of 1871. For a period of      two months following the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, a group of  workers and socialist intellectuals assumed control of Paris and exercised     power before the reconstituted French army swept in and violently crushed the  movement. Watkins utilizes multiple camera crews and a cast of hundreds to       recreate the events from dueling perspectives, sweeping viewers into a dynamic presentation that boasts raw immediacy and a measured, self-reflexive view of  restaging history. "Best film of the year! Absolutely riveting" (Village    Voice). In French with English subtitles.                                     Peter Watkins---France---2000---345 mins.
PRIVILEGE
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Filmed between his anti-nuke semi-documentary The War Game (1965) and      his dystopic thriller The Gladiators (1969), Peter Watkins'                Privilege, an acerbic, darkly comic warning against totalitarian           ideologies (church, state, capitalism, etc.), proved to be just as             controversial. Set in near-future England, Paul Jones (singer of Manfred Mann) plays a hugely popular rock star under the firm grip of the corporation-state. When a girl (Jean Shrimpton) is summoned to paint his portrait, he's inspire  d  to rebel. "A bitter, uncompromising movie...fascinating and important" (Roger  Peter Watkins---Great Britain---1967---103 mins.
PUNISHMENT PARK
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Peter Watkins' 1971 masterpiece of dystopian filmmaking has aged frighteningly well--its scathing indictment of authoritative government has proven horribly relevant in our post-9/11 world. Framed as a pseudo-documentary, the film explores the potential ramifications of a 1950 Security Act that enables political prisoners to be held without rights in military concentration camps. Herded together for a march through the burning Californian desert, a ragtag band of leftist dissidents realize that the deck has been stacked brutally against them. "This is satire of the most intimately powerful sort" (The Peter Watkins---USA---1971---88 mins.
WAR GAME/ CULLODEN (WATKINS)
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This harrowing program collects two films by Peter Watkins. The War Game   (1965, 49 mins.) is an unnerving documentary-style film showing what could       happen if Britain came under a nuclear attack. The production so horrified the   BBC that this has never been screened on British TV. Widely considered to be   one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made, Watkins' film was the       winner of the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Culloden       (1964, 72 mins.) meticulously reconstructs the 1746 conflict that marked the     last pitch battle to take place on British soil. "A shattering grunt's-eye     view of warfare, where victory is an illusion best viewed on horseback" (Sam   Adams, Philadelphia City Paper).                                         Peter Watkins---Great Britain---1964-1965---121 mins.