Gladiatorerna

There's been no shortage of anti-war movies over the years, but Peter Watkins's "Gladiatorerna" ("The Gladiators" in English) takes a different approach. Rather than showing an obvious war or occupation, it depicts a game in which the world's governments - regardless of ideology or race - force people to fight each other for entertainment. The generals merely sit there and politely converse with each other while the citizens fight; all too realistic. An international version of "The Hunger Games", one might say.

It was fitting that this movie got released at the height of the Vietnam War, but surprisingly it didn't become as famous as one might expect. I happened to find it in my local video/DVD store and decided to rent it. Nonetheless, the unrelenting focus on the futility of war - even seen through the context of a "different" kind of war - makes this a movie that everyone should see. I hope to see the rest of Watkins's movies.

George Harris (the Nigerian officer) later played Kingsley Shacklebolt in the Harry Potter movies.

Peter Watkins most famous for directing films like Culloden (1964), The War Game (1965), Privilege (1967) etc went to Sweden to direct this sharp, satirical, surreal anti war film.

To my knowledge, this film has never been broadcast on Swedish TV nor does any of Peter Watkins other productions seem to have been broadcast recently on Swedish TV.

For example 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of writer August Strindbergs death but as I understand, Watkins made a biopic/documentary about Strindberg but has not been showned on TV....at least not yet.

Does Watkins have a lot of enemies or is it that he is a controversial filmmaker that makes him and his films less appealing? Who knows...but an enormous silence surrounding his films and the fact that is very hard to see his films makes one wonder.

Gladiatorerna/ Peace Game(1969)takes place in nearfuture where conventional warfare no longer exist. Instead, countries(regardless of political colour) all over the world gather at a special traininground/maze with their soldiers who are then divided into teams.

Teams go trough this maze filled with boobytraps (some are these are females using the same kind of "sex-up" techniques popular at Guantanamo Bay)controlled by a computer.

The teams try kill each other in the best way possible. Points are given at each kill etc.

But is the system perfect? Can something go wrong? Perhaps, because this surreal, dark, nihilistic scifi film discusses political systems in way few films have done before.

Peter Watkins was ahead of his time in this film, criticizing not just the establishment, but also the growing student uprising(remember this film was made in 1969) and the counter culture.

Biggest flaw for this film is the didactic almost preaching tone that film has sometimes but it is an important message that Watkins wants to give us.

Watkins is very brave for doing so and this film should be seen by more people but alas perhaps this will never happen, mainly because Watkins films are never shown on TV, his films receives little or no attention and hardly any DVD releases.

Why haven't Criterion released his films as of yet on DVD, Blu Ray? It should be done, because he is an important filmmaker.

This film is perhaps not as good as Privilege (1967) a film more accurate today then when it was made but is well worth a look.

Gladiatorerna/Peace Game (1969)is together with Skammen/Shame (1968) and Äkta människor/Real Humans (2012– )three very good scifi productions made in Sweden and that is one of many reasons why people should see this rare film.

I saw this movie in Stockholm the year it came out. I haven't seen it since, but I can remember many scenes vividly: that is a memorable movie. In addition to an ahead-of-his- time visual sense, the director added a feature, multiple subtitles, that I have never seen in a subsequent movie. Not just one or two languages, but every language spoken by the characters in the movie. That means Swedish, English, French, Spanish, Chinese... All appear stacked at the bottom of the screen (yet, amazingly, you can still see the action), minus whatever language is on the sound track at that moment; thus, the list shifts constantly as different actors speak. A little disconcerting at first, but it adds so much to the multicultural impact of the film. I hope someone brings it out on DVD.

Watkins' Gladiators a.k.a. Gladiatorena a.k.a. The Peace Game (1969) is a very interesting film that features a unique concept.The movie takes place in a alternate reality where warfare has been abolished. Countries that want to settle their disputes handle them inside a high tech arena. Each country sends in a crack squad of highly trained commandos. While inside, they play a game that's similar to "capture the flag". The supercomputer controlled arena is operated by technicians from neutral countries. The computer randomly puts up obstacles in the way of the commandos (adding a bit of intrigue to the game). The generals from the opposing forces (along with their allies) play a game of chess with their commandos, watching the proceedings from the safety of a control room (TV screens and computer monitors follow the action). Around the world, the game is televised (except in Russia, China and The United States). The TV programmers even have a say in the action (they have to satisfy the TV viewers).

Once again, Watkins uses his faux documentary style to capture it all on film. This movie's truly ahead of it's time. A concept like this one would make a great reality T.V. show. Unfortunately, like most of Peter Watkins work it's a hard movie to find. But if you ever get a chance to watch it, I recommend that you do.

Highly recommended.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Peter Watkins; Produced by Goran Lindgren, for Sandrews (Sweden); released in America as "The Gladiators" by New Line Cinema. Screenplay by Nicholas Gosling and Peter Watkins; Photography by Peter Suschitzky; Edited by Lars Hagstrom; Music by Claef af Geijerstam. Starring: Arthur Pentelow, Frederick Danner, Hand Bendrik, Daniel Harle and Hans Berger.

Documentary-like tale of a future world where gladiatorial "peace games" serve in place of war. Film gets points for its verisimilitude, but fails due to trite and overstated personal and political scenes.