Battle in Seattle (2008) | Directed and written by Stuart Townsend | 98 min | USA

Though the intent driving Stuart Townsend’s Battle in Seattle is admirable, the results range from flat to laughable. A fictionalized account of the 1999 WTO Ministerial Conference and the protests that shut it down, the movie gets some things right (the city’s under-preparation, police brutality, the biased media reports) and some things wrong (a shot of Qwest Field – built in 2002, governor Gary Locke with a Chinese accent), but misses its biggest target: the WTO itself.

There’s an excitement and disappointment in seeing a historic event you’ve experienced yourself portrayed onscreen. At first teasing us with a docudrama style opening, Townsend opts instead for the Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004) template. A conveniently interwoven ensemble cast portraying all “sides” of the conflict: the mayor (Ray Liotta), the good protesters (Michelle Rodriguez), some bad protesters, the cop (Woody Harrelson) and his pregnant wife (Charlize Theron), the rebel journalist, and Andre 3000 in a turtle outfit. The strongest scenes are clips of actual protest footage inserted in between, and rescuing, conventionally shot melodrama and sidewalk political debates. Watching this on the 9 year anniversary of N30, I felt like I was there again, even if revisiting the scene through a tourist’s lens.

After day one of the protests, its back to our regularly scheduled romance and a tidy conflict resolution. And who takes center stage? The cop. Ultimately, the film’s biggest hole isn’t who it chose to focus on, but who it noticeably did not: the heads of the WTO (chairman Michael Moore gets a passing moment on a TV screen). Is this a critique against capitalism, or a critique in favor of a more friendly version of it? For a film supposedly siding with the anti-globalization movement and against corporate interests, Battle in Seattle leaves much to be desired. Even then, it’s a step forward from the mass-media misinformation about the protest, and, for all its shortcomings, sheds a critical light on the WTO, whatever it is. Hopefully it’ll lead the uninitiated into more dynamic and informational documentaries like This is What Democracy Looks Like (2000) or Life and Debt (2001).

• Check The Real Battle in Seattle (realbattleinseattle.org).
  
• The Battle for Reality, an article by organizer David Solnit breaking down his experience with the filmmakers.