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Two BBC 16mm films by Peter Watkins on the same BFI blu-ray:
Culloden (1964)
The 1746 Battle of Culloden and the subsequent massacre shot as if it was a modern (60s) news report from a hellish warzone. It was a stroke of genius to use interviews to camera, hand held footage in the thick of battle and "war reporters" on the front-line (holding telescopes so they resemble telephoto camera lenses). It brings history to life so vividly and portrays the event as a miserable and senseless slaughter, instigated by reckless and incompetent noblemen who squander the lives of the poor without a thought.
The War Game (1965)
Peter Watkins' follow up to 'Culloden' was suppressed by BBC under pressure from the then Government for 20-years. The Drama-Documentary imagines and explains in cold detail exactly how everybody in Britain would be totally f**ked if there was ever a Nuclear attack. It was feared that had the broadcast gone ahead it would have turned public opinion against Nuclear weapons and would have resulted in mass suicides in the event of the bomb being dropped.
I'm very impressed with the counter-cultural passion and anger of these two Watkins films. I will have to check out his other work like an Edvard Munch biopic and the controversial 'Punishment Park'.
Culloden (1964)
The 1746 Battle of Culloden and the subsequent massacre shot as if it was a modern (60s) news report from a hellish warzone. It was a stroke of genius to use interviews to camera, hand held footage in the thick of battle and "war reporters" on the front-line (holding telescopes so they resemble telephoto camera lenses). It brings history to life so vividly and portrays the event as a miserable and senseless slaughter, instigated by reckless and incompetent noblemen who squander the lives of the poor without a thought.
The War Game (1965)
Peter Watkins' follow up to 'Culloden' was suppressed by BBC under pressure from the then Government for 20-years. The Drama-Documentary imagines and explains in cold detail exactly how everybody in Britain would be totally f**ked if there was ever a Nuclear attack. It was feared that had the broadcast gone ahead it would have turned public opinion against Nuclear weapons and would have resulted in mass suicides in the event of the bomb being dropped.
I'm very impressed with the counter-cultural passion and anger of these two Watkins films. I will have to check out his other work like an Edvard Munch biopic and the controversial 'Punishment Park'.