Battle in Seattle
Encyclopedia
Battle in Seattle is a 2007 film and the directorial debut of actor Stuart Townsend
. It is based on the protest activity
at the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
. The film premiered on May 22, 2008 at the Seattle International Film Festival
.
. The World Trade Organization
is considered by protesters to contribute to widening the socioeconomic gap between the rich and the poor while it claims to be fixing it and increasing world hunger, disease and death.
The movie takes an in-depth look at several fictional characters during those five days in 1999 as demonstrators protested the meeting of the WTO in Seattle's streets. The movie portrays conflicts between the peaceful protesters and a minority committing property destruction whose actions were widely covered by the media. Although the protest began peacefully with a goal of stopping the WTO talks, police began teargassing the crowd and the situation escalated into a full-scale riot and a State of Emergency
that pitted protesters against the Seattle Police Department
and the National Guard
.
. The critical consensus was that the film, though "well-intentioned and passionate", had stronger political content than characters. New York Magazine called the film "a triumph", while Chicago Sun-Times
film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and described it as "not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same" and compared it to past political films like Medium Cool
. According to EW.com, the film "sounds like a bad TV movie: a drama based on the protests that halted the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle. Yet Stuart Townsend re-creates it all with stunning passion and skill in 'Battle in Seattle'"
The film also received positive reviews from The Hollywood Reporter
and Variety
.
Despite director Stuart Townsend's stated intention of portraying the events of protest accurately, the film was criticized by anarchist collective CrimethInc.
for what they saw as its sensationalistic portrayal of events. In a pamphlet titled "And What About Tomorrow?", the collective allege that the protests were characterized in the film as an isolated spontaneous uprising in which a "small fringe group" of black bloc
anarchists "stole the show", whereas CrimethInc. contend that "anarchists were involved in all different aspects of the protests" including nonviolent organization and Food Not Bombs
, and credit the adoption of anarchist direct action
tactics with the success of the uprising. A review published by Anarkismo praised the film as "clearly well-researched", citing the pacing and general narrative as quite accurate, but criticized the presentation of anarchist politics as one-dimensional and a caricature.
Stuart Townsend
Stuart Townsend is an Irish actor and director. His most notable portrayals are of the characters Lestat de Lioncourt in the 2002 film adaptation of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned, and Dorian Gray in the 2003 film adaptation of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.-Early life and...
. It is based on the protest activity
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
at the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
The WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning November 30, 1999. A week before the meeting, delegates admitted failure to agree...
. The film premiered on May 22, 2008 at the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
.
Plot
The film depicts the historic protest in 1999, as thousands of activists arrive in Seattle, Washington in masses to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
The WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning November 30, 1999. A week before the meeting, delegates admitted failure to agree...
. The World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
is considered by protesters to contribute to widening the socioeconomic gap between the rich and the poor while it claims to be fixing it and increasing world hunger, disease and death.
The movie takes an in-depth look at several fictional characters during those five days in 1999 as demonstrators protested the meeting of the WTO in Seattle's streets. The movie portrays conflicts between the peaceful protesters and a minority committing property destruction whose actions were widely covered by the media. Although the protest began peacefully with a goal of stopping the WTO talks, police began teargassing the crowd and the situation escalated into a full-scale riot and a State of Emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
that pitted protesters against the Seattle Police Department
Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
and the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
.
Cast
Though the film is based on actual events, the characters are fictional.- Martin HendersonMartin HendersonMartin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
as Jay - Michelle RodriguezMichelle RodriguezMayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
as Lou - Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
as Ella - Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
as Dale - André Benjamin as Django
- Connie Nielsen as Jean
- Ray LiottaRay Liotta[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
as Mayor Jim Tobin (loosely based on real-life Seattle Mayor Paul SchellPaul SchellPaul Schell, born Paul Schlachtenhaufen on October 8, 1937, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, was the 50th mayor of Seattle, Washington. His four-year term as mayor began on January 1, 1998....
) - Tzi MaTzi MaTzi Ma is a Chinese American actor who has made numerous appearances in American films and TV series.-Life and career:Ma was born in Hong Kong...
as Governor (loosely based on former Washington Governor Gary LockeGary LockeGary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...
) - Channing TatumChanning TatumChanning Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
as Johnson - Jennifer CarpenterJennifer CarpenterJennifer Leann Carpenter is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Emily Rose in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Debra Morgan on Dexter, and the lead role in the 2008 horror movie Quarantine.-Early life:...
as Sam - Ivana MiličevićIvana Milicevic-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
as Carla - Joshua JacksonJoshua JacksonJoshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
as Randall - Isaach De BankoléIsaach De BankoléIsaach or Isaac de Bankolé is an Ivorian actor.-Work:He has appeared in over 30 films, including Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes...
as Abasi - Rade SerbedzijaRade ŠerbedžijaRade Šerbedžija , occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions, is a Croatian actor, director and musician of Serb origin. He was one of the most popular Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s. He is now internationally known mainly for his supporting roles in...
as Dr. Meric
Filming locations
- VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
, Point Grey Campus - Granville SquareGranville SquareGranville Square is a prominent tower located at 200 Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver's Financial District. Completed in 1973, it stands at 142 m or 30 storeys high, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city...
- Corner of Hastings and Hornby
- Corner of Hastings and Howe Leone and L2Leone and L2Leone and L2 are two boutiques situated inside the historic Sinclair Centre building, at 757 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. Founded in 1987 by Maria and Alberto Leone, the store is a popular stop for visiting celebrities . In 1996 Leone expanded into the lower level of the Sinclair Centre...
- Foot of Vancouver Public LibraryVancouver Public LibraryThe Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
- Fraser Street, between 41st and 49th Avenues
- University of British Columbia
- Seattle, Washington
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 52% positive rating from numerous reviews on review aggregator site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The critical consensus was that the film, though "well-intentioned and passionate", had stronger political content than characters. New York Magazine called the film "a triumph", while Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and described it as "not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same" and compared it to past political films like Medium Cool
Medium Cool
Medium Cool is an American film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968...
. According to EW.com, the film "sounds like a bad TV movie: a drama based on the protests that halted the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle. Yet Stuart Townsend re-creates it all with stunning passion and skill in 'Battle in Seattle'"
The film also received positive reviews from The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
.
Despite director Stuart Townsend's stated intention of portraying the events of protest accurately, the film was criticized by anarchist collective CrimethInc.
CrimethInc.
CrimethInc., also known as CWC , is a decentralized anarchist collective of autonomous cells. CrimethInc. emerged in the mid-1990s, initially as the hardcore zine Inside Front, and began operating as a collective in 1996...
for what they saw as its sensationalistic portrayal of events. In a pamphlet titled "And What About Tomorrow?", the collective allege that the protests were characterized in the film as an isolated spontaneous uprising in which a "small fringe group" of black bloc
Black bloc
A black bloc is a tactic for protests and marches, whereby individuals wear black clothing, scarves, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing items...
anarchists "stole the show", whereas CrimethInc. contend that "anarchists were involved in all different aspects of the protests" including nonviolent organization and Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance...
, and credit the adoption of anarchist direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
tactics with the success of the uprising. A review published by Anarkismo praised the film as "clearly well-researched", citing the pacing and general narrative as quite accurate, but criticized the presentation of anarchist politics as one-dimensional and a caricature.
See also
- 30 Frames a Second: The WTO in Seattle 200030 Frames a Second: The WTO in Seattle 200030 Frames a Second: The WTO in Seattle 2000 is a documentary film shot during the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity and contains interviews with many of the protest leaders...
, a photojournalist's first person documentary film shot during the protests and released in 2000 - Breaking the SpellBreaking the Spell (film)Breaking the Spell is a 1999 anarchist documentary, directed by Tim Lewis, Tim Ream, and Sir Chuck A. Rock.Using amateur camera footage recorded by protesters at the scene of the 1999 WTO riots, it documents the riot from the perspective of the anarchists, their opinions of fellow protesters, local...
, an anarchist documentary account of the protests released by CrimethInc. - Lee Kyung HaeLee Kyung HaeLee Kyung Hae was a South Korean farmer and activist who opposed neo-liberal globalization and protested for the local farmers and fishermen of his home country whose jobs were threatened. He was also president of the Federation of Farmers and Fishermen of Korea.-Early life:Lee Kyung Hae was born...
, a Korean farmer cited at the end of the film - Farmers' suicides in IndiaFarmers' suicides in IndiaIndia is an Agrarian country with around 60% of its people directly or indirectly depend upon Agriculture. Agriculture in India is often attributed as gambling with Monsoon because of its almost exclusive dependency on Monsoons...
, a statistic cited at the end of the film - Iraq War protestsProtests against the Iraq WarBeginning in 2002, and continuing after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, protests against the Iraq War were held in many cities worldwide, often coordinated to occur simultaneously around the world...
, cited at the end of the film - List of American films of 2007