Search The Archive
In Evening Land, British film-maker, Peter Watkins, projects a frightening future for the welfare state. The film, which was provisionally titled Denmark 1980, chronicles the disintegration of the welfare society. The democratic parliamentary system is menaced by mass unemployment, inflation, worker unrest, and industrial stagnation. An illegal strike begins at the Copenhagen Shipyard, where workers have been given the choice between building four nuclear armed submarines for the French navy, or closing down the yard. The strike spreads across the country. At the same time, a group of urban guerillas kidnaps a leading politician and threatens to paralyse society with further acts of terrorism.
The state moves to suppress all dissent; controls are placed on the press, the police call in 'Specialists' from abroad, and politicians call for more rigorous repression. The striking workers advocate peaceful resistance, while the guerillas demand a ransom for their kidnap victim. The forces of law and order move in to wipe put all resistance . . .
As in his other films, Peter Watkins uses amateur actors, and shoots in a documentary style.