Political metaphor for the state of global society
http://billedpolitik.dk/watkins.html
Some notes from Peter Watkins on Aftenlandet
(Denmark 1976)
I recently read Jakob Jakobsen’s 2007 essay on my film Aftenlandet, and realized that my memory of the circumstances behind the making of this film is now quite clouded. It is, after all, a long time since I tried to settle and work in Scandinavia, and 35 years since I filmed Aftenlandet in Denmark. Of all my films, the two that I made in Denmark (Aftenlandet and the earlier 70s People) have probably been the most attacked and certainly the least shown. Therefore I have had no opportunity to either show these films or to discuss the issues that they deal with. As a consequence they remain quite blurred relative to fresher memories of larger projects since then. Hence I am very pleased that Jakob has decided to show Aftenlandet, to draw it out from the shadows for the first time since 1977. I am also very happy that three of the people who helped to develop and produce Aftenlandet - Poul Martinsen (co-writer and interviewer), Carsten Clante (co-writer and journalist Martin), and Ebbe Preisler (producer) - will be present at the screening in København. I’m sure that their own memories and perspectives of the way the film developed, the opposition from local authorities, and resistance from the local media when the film was shown, will add a great deal to what I write below.
As Jakob writes, the film was originally entitled “Coup d’etat”, and I recall that after producing the 70s People in 1974 I had become aware of Denmark’s fragility as a democracy. But if I remember correctly - doubtless Poul and Carsten can help here - we realized that the existing order in Denmark was less likely to be changed by a formal coup d’etat (especially involving the Danish army) than by events taking place in other quarters and sectors of the society. This did not, however, mean that the Danish army and police would not play a significant role - indeed, it was clear by that time that the Danish police had already become a powerful player in the drama of Danish politics.
I don’t recall what was specifically happening in Denmark in 1976, but undoubtedly events at that time made us hit upon the idea of the strike and the “terrorist” group. I do vaguely remember situations involving the Danish police - including their over-reaction to various demonstrations - which would certainly have influenced the way they were portrayed in Aftenlandet.
In 1976, the issue of nuclear weapons was prevalent on a global level, with tactical nuclear weapons approaching a topical zenith a few years later during the crisis with the U.S. cruise missile which the Americans were planning to install on mobile launchers in the U.K. - leading to massive protests, the establishment of Women’s’ Peace Camps, etc.
In his essay, Jakob noted that inflation and unemployment did not exist in Denmark in 2007, that the nuclear arms race had been superseded by the global war on terror (with the EU army as a minor player), and that therefore Aftenlandet was somewhat outdated. I would say that, to the contrary, the film’s broader, longterm implications had/have become more relevant than ever.
Unemployment has become a very serious issue since the development of globalisation and the ensuing financial crisis that now affects millions of people throughout the world. As for inflation, even if it is still momentarily being held in check in Denmark, there is no guarantee that it will not emerge in this country as it has elsewhere in Europe, where millions of people are suffering from economic and social deprivation. The EU army may not (yet) function as predicted in the film, but a related factor in the current climate of deprivation is the escalating world arms race, with its expenditure of over a trillion dollars a year. The growth of nuclear-weapons nations means that the nuclear arms race has taken on a more dangerous profile than ever. Within this scenario, it is quite possible that France and Germany could back a new European military force to replace NATO. The cold-war era of “Mutually Assured Destruction” has led to a whole new raft of ever more insane possibilities and risks.
Shoulder to shoulder with these issues is the collapse of democracy, brought about by the increasing inequalities and misuse of power within the capitalist, neo-liberal (call it what you will) system. Indeed, Europeans/Scandinavians appear to live under political systems that proclaim to be progressive social-democracies, but which - when their power-structure and system of privileges are threatened - resort to the tactics of the police state.