Peter Watkins

One of the more under-appreciated directors on the film landscape is Peter Watkins. I met him in the 70s when he showed Punishment Park, perhaps the best film about the 60s, at Salisbury State College in Maryland. I later was blown away by the marathon Edvard Munch.

What's interesting about Watkins is his preference for common citizens over trained actors for the roles in his films. His style is the documentary, his films often fictional documentaries. Indeed, at the showing of Punishment Park a riot almost happened during the after-film discussion when a group of students believed the "documentary" was true, that the government indeed ran a "punishment park."

Watkins is no stranger to controversy. Commissioned to do a film on the aftermath of a nuclear war, he created such horrors that the BBC wouldn't show it for years. His films, if not commercially successful or widely known, are important achievements, and he deserves a wider audience than he's enjoyed over the years. Now and again I show Punishment Park to my students and they always are blown away.

Peter Watkins at Wikipedia

Intro to his films by Peter Watkins himself.