BATTLE IN SEATTLE

US, 2007, 99 minutes. Colour.
Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jennifer Carpenter, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, Ray Liotta, Andre Benjamin, Isaach De Bankole, Joshua Jackson, Tzi Ma, Connie Nielsen, Rade Serbedzija, Channing Tatum.
Directed by Stuart Townsend.

World Trade Organisation meetings come and go, many of them do not make much lasting impact. The meeting in Seattle in 1999 was memorable in the extent of the protest against the G8, the sabotaging of the sessions and the violence in the streets of a city which had high prosperity hopes from hosting the meeting.

Stuart Townsend is best known as an actor (Simon Magus, Queen of the Damned). He does not appear in this film but was the writer and director. He has made a creditable job of evoking and maintaining interest in the dramatising of the protest as well as highlighting the reasons for it. He also shows how best-intentioned protests can be disrupted by extremists whose violent behaviour brings in the authorities who meet violence with violence (as was shown in such films as Paul Greengrass's re-creation of the clashes in Derry on Bloody Sunday).

Townsend has integrated footage from the time to give his film greater realism and urgency.

The screenplay is a day-by-day account beginning with the preparations for the meeting, the plans of the mayor (Ray Liotta) for security, the strategies of the protesters and their non-violent intentions. A fictional story is introduced to show ordinary, non-political people, in Seattle as well as the story of a security policeman. Charlize Theron is a pregnant woman who works in a city store and is unwittingly trapped in the mayhem in the streets. Woody Harrelson is her husband, a loving man, who is caught up in the police activity and, in a surprisingly shocking sequence, loses his cool and bashes the leader of the protest (Martin Henderson).

The media is ever-present, the focus being on an ambitious reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) who opts to stay with the riots rather than film the arrival of Bill Clinton and finishes up arrested and re-thinking her political position.

With the editing and pace, Townsend is able to stir up his audience just as the protesters and the police are being stirred up. Particularly telling is a small sub-plot where a doctor from Medicins Sans Frontieres (Rade Serbedzija) is prevented from getting to a conference and, later, when he has an opportunity, he is confronted by pharmaceutical company representatives.

The film takes the side of protest and argues the possibility of peaceful demonstration when it is controlled and participants co-operate. The film also shows the hotheads, their more fanatical approach, whether ideological or simply anti-authoritarian, and the disastrous results. The repercussions for the city and for innocent victims caught up in the violence are also shown.

A very interesting example of a film with social concern, emotionally involving its audience as well as asking them to think through their attitudes.

1. A political drama? Perspectives from left-wing ideologies, right-wing ideologies? World economics? World protests? The World Trade Organisation?

2. The setting, the meeting, the choice of Seattle, the visuals of the city, the preparations, the venue for the meeting, security issues, the protesters? The lives of ordinary people, jobs, shops, the police? The style of filming as film, as television, as news?

3. The title, the perspective on 20th century protest and the World Trade Organisation?

4. The presentation of the city authorities, the mayor, his ambitions for the city, issues of security, the meetings and discussions, the role of the police, the plans, the confrontation of protests, the escalating riots, the action of the police, the decision to call in the National Guard, the discussions with the governor? The decisions, the failings and reputations lost? The governor and his intervention?

5. The range of protesters, Jay, his background, family, relationships, Lou and Sam? The motives for being there? The plan for the protest, peaceful? The political stances, the group and their interactions, accommodation, discussions? The meetings, the accommodation, the plans, the procession, the agitators and the disruption, the breaking of property, the reaction of the police? Speeches, attempts to persuade the crowd to disband? The reaction of the delegates, the workshops and speeches, the dispersal of the delegates?

6. The police, the focus on the police, their job, instructions, the cordons, the batons and the bashing?

7. The focus on Ella and Dale, at home, her pregnancy, as focusing the ordinary citizens of Seattle? Ella and her work, shopping, pregnant? Her being caught, her being thought of as a protester, her being bashed, going to hospital, the miscarriage?

8. Dale, at work, preparation for the demonstrations, his attitudes, discussions with his fellow police, the confrontations? The pressure, the conflict with Jay, bashing him, his anger? Ella, at the hospital? His coming to his senses, going to the prison to apologise?

9. Jay, the reasons for his presence, his leadership, relationship with Lou? The experience of the protest, getting out of hand, his going to prison?

10. Django and his style, the individuals in the protest?

11. Jean, her work as a journalist, the encounter with Ella, the arrest, her being in prison, the prison experience and her understanding?

12. The bystanders, their being caught up in the riots?

13. The vividness of the crowd sequences, the different perspectives, the government action, the collapse? Ella and Dale in this context, the sadness of the miscarriage?

14. The film as provocative? Raising issues for discussion? Its being condemned as left-wing propaganda?