Director/Scr: Stuart Townsend. US, Canada. 2007. 100mins
A labour of love for actor turned director Stuart Townsend, Battle In Seattle is an uneven but ultimately impassioned recreation of the riots at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle . Documentary footage and fictional drama scenes make for initially uneasy bedfellows but this is a film that seems to grow in stature as it unfolds and matures. The end result is an accomplished political drama in the manner reminiscent of Ken Loach.

Commercially there must be a question mark over whether people care enough about the issues and events of eight years ago to spend their money watching a film of them. A cautious specialist release should be able to translate a positive critical response into theatrical returns on a par with Bobby or a Loach feature like Bread And Roses.

Early on in the film, Townsend appears to flounder. A jaunty, Michael Moore-style beginning gives a potted history of the World Trade Organization and its aims before the film delves into the personal stories and individuals lives that will criss-cross over five days in Seattle. The soap-opera travails of Seattle mayor Jim Tobin (Liotta), protest leader Jay (Henderson), policeman Dale (Harrelson) and his pregnant wife Ella (Theron) suggest that kind of film that could easily be mistaken for a routine tv-movie recreation of yesterday's headline news. Broad brushstrokes define the storytelling and events escalate quickly and glibly towards crisis point.

Once the crisis has been reached, the film seems to move up a gear finding a dramatic intensity and urgency that has been absent. Scenes of police brutality involving tear gas and rubber bullets on the streets of America are a reminder of exactly how shocking the battle in Seattle was and the price people were willing to pay to uphold their right to protest. Innocent bystander Ella is knocked to the ground and punched in the stomach.

The sense of anger over the level of response to a peaceful assembly fuels the better second half of the film. Townsend strives to include an element of balance and perspective, especially in the story of Dr Alex Maric (Sherbedzija) a representative from Medicine Without Frontiers who is attending the WTO talks to raise awareness of the way expensive medicines are the greatest obstacle to improving the lives of many people in the developing world. His plaintive cries of 'People matter more than profits' fall on deaf ears. He becomes increasingly marginalised as the conflict surrounding the talks becomes the story rather than anything that anyone hoped to achieve.

Townsend's affinity with Ken Loach is underlined by the use of Loach's frequent cinematographer Barry Ackroyd who adds to the immediacy of the drama with a good deal of intimate handheld camerawork. Townsend keeps a strong sense of pace, cutting between the preparations of the protesters and the police and scoring political points with the use of some telling news footage including President Clinton's stealthy arrival in Seattle in the wee small hours of the morning.

Battle In Seattle may have its awkward moments as it feels obliged to provide back story on certain characters. But those are balanced by a number of strong performances, especially from Woody Harrelson as the traumatised cop Dale and Rade Sherbedzija as the frustrated Dr Maric.

Production Companies
Remstar Productions Inc (Can)
Insight Film Studios Ltd (Can)
Proud Mary Entertainment (US)

International Sales
Hyde Park Entertainment (US)
1 (818) 670-7150

Producers
Mary Aloe
Kirk Shaw
Maxime Remillard

Executive producer
Julien Remillard

Cinematography
Barry Ackroyd

Production design
Chris August

Editor
Fernando Villena

Music
One Point Six Ltd

Main cast
Martin Henderson
Michelle Rodriguez
Charlize Theron
Woody Harrelson
Ray Liotta
Andre Benjamin
Rade Sherbedzija
Connie Nielsen

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