A Movie Reviews : BATTLE IN SEATTLE

Battle in Seattle Film Poster

Battle in Seattle is a film inspired from a real event. This film tells about citizens of Seattle City, USA who did protest action, over the coming World Trade Organization (WTO) in late November 1999 in that city. This protest was a kind of rejection of WTO which had caused much harm to the world, especially for developing countries. This film begins with a brief explanation about history of WTO and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades), which imposed a system of world trade liberalization and expand. This organizations whose members up to 150 countries controlled 90 percent of world trade and slowly pushed the economic development of developing countries. Human rights and the environment forced to be subordinated with world trade.

The climax of this film is when some WTO member of states delegates who would do conference in Paramount Theatre, Seattle, intercepted by 10,000 demonstrators who were doing peaceful protest to express their disapproval to WTO. This big protest was coordinated by Andre Benjamin who acts as Django and his friends, Sam (Jennifer Carpenter), Jay (Martin Henderson), and Lou (Michelle Rodriguez). The blocking action that did by activists, made policeman did repressive action and it tends to anarchist and also arrests the activists. Of course these forces act is contrary to initial agreement of mayor that no arrest from police during peaceful protests carried out.

Andre Benjamin as Django, one of activist in protest toward WTO 

Many conflicts are featured in this film, including conflicts experienced by  mass media. This film that made in 2007 tells about mass media which loses its role as the real informant of facts. The mass media mostly actually had been dominated by large companies in the U.S.. Jean, played by Connie Nielsen one of reporters of Kodo 7 Eyewitness News considered not objective in informing news. Jean finally chose to join the activists. Another conflict is an internal family conflict experienced by Ella (Charlize Theron) and Dale (Woody Harrelson), her husband, who was a member of the police. Ella lost her womb because of a blow from a policeman who tried to discipline the protest.

This Stuart Townsed's film is very interesting. Several sets of the original video of protest are also included, so that the audience also knows the real situation at that time. Conflicts which highlighted in this film makes the audience emotion expressed, otherwise the problem that taken is the fact that actually happens but not widely known. After watching this film, viewers get entertainment and also important information in it and are able to retrieve the values ​​in each scene. But unfortunately, the main role in this film, Andre Benjamin who acts as Django is less dominates, so people who watch this film guess that Jay (Martin Henderson) is the main role because he often acts out in each scene. This film that full of information and knowledge actually not suitable for consumption by children under the age because many scenes of violence in it.

This movie reviews is original. Written by one of King Students, especially Mass Communication class, for fulfilled Online Journalism last examination.

Elyvia Inayah (105120201121003)