movie reviews

Battle in Seattle

In 1999, more than 40,000 people gathered in Seattle for one of the largest protests since the Vietnam War. Yet in today’s world of the seemingly endless Iraq War, collapsing economy, and the end of the American century, this monumental moment of collective action is largely forgotten. Until now, that is. Writer/director (and actor) Stuart Townsend’s film, Battle in Seattle, shows a snapshot of recent history, casting light on ordinary Americans and their efforts to create change in the world.

Battle in Seattle provides a multi-angled, fictional view of the activists, cops, and government officials who clashed in Seattle during a protest against the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is an international organization that controls much of the trade in the world. It is essentially the UN for big businesses, and urges free, largely unrestricted trade. The actual “Battle in Seattle,” as the media dubbed it, was a culmination of international dissent against WTO policies: excluding/bullying poor countries, ignoring environmental concerns, and squashing labor rights.

The film weaves together the events of the protests by providing vignettes that portray many dimensions of the WTO story. We follow environmental activists (Jennifer Carpenter, Andre “3000” Benjamin, and Martin Henderson) as they prepare for the protests. On the other side, the film shows the establishment: Mayor Jim Tobin (Ray Liotta), who tries to reconcile free speech while including the conference, a riot cop (Woody Harrelson) whose pregnant wife (Charlize Theron) gets caught in the protest, and an intrepid reporter (Connie Nielsen).

Battle succeeds in documenting the various failures of both the establishment and the anti-establishment when the nonviolent protests turned into chaos resulting in tear gas canisters being released, police batons being brandished, and over 600 people arrested. The scenes of the protest are vivid and even more compelling as brutal footage from the real event breaks down the passivity of the movie watching process. These scenes show the selfless passion for justice, and the undeniable power of people committed to an ideal.

Yet, like the squabbling of member states of the WTO and the polyglot of activists groups, Battle’s plot suffers from too many voices. The characters are glossed over archetypes: the cop fighting to do the right thing (Harrelson), the struggling love story, the man with a personal tragedy and a vendetta. This over-dramatization waters down the impact of the true story and the historic nature of the civil disobedience that occurred on the streets of Seattle. In addition, the WTO is an incredibly complex organization—international economics is never an easy thing to understand—and the numerous characters just muddy up many of the film’s concepts.

Despite these missteps, Townsend’s directorial debut achieves what it sets out to do. First, it shows that the WTO exists, and that it has a large hand in whether countries thrive or become impoverished. It also raises important questions: Is democracy effective? Do protests work (remember, 36 million people across the world protested the Iraq War in 2003)? What effects has global trade had on the world? And lastly, it also shows what Karl Marx calls praxis—the movement of a philosophy into action—and the ability of everyday people to change themselves and the world.

—Drew Tewksbury
09.22.08

Related posts:

1. Stuart Townsend and Martin Henderson
2. Spectacular Summer Film Fests
3. Sukiyaki Western Django
4. People Magazine: Valerie Bertinelli to Write Memoir
5. Valkyrie

© 2008 Drew Tewksbury: Multimedia Journalist.