Title: Town Bloody Hall
Year: 1979
Director: D.A Pennebaker
Country: US
Language: English
Town Bloody Hall compares having a debate to a wrestling/boxing match. It is a fascinating time capsule from an era where even the most controversial subject matter was still civilly discussed, as people were legitimately curious about understanding -and discussing- opposing ideologies. Rather than squash thought, people sought to expand their mind.
In Town Bloody Hall infamously macho author Norman Mailer shares a 1971 NYC panel with an audience of intellectual women and famous feminists discussing the socio-pollical discourse of the women's liberation movement.
Mailer is joined onstage by feminists Jill Johnston, Jacqueline Ceballos, Diana Trilling and Germaine Greer. Though the feminists all share a disdain for Mailer, each one has a remarkably diverse argument that is not necessarily aligned with the other. It's an intellectually proactive discussion that makes political theatre quite thrilling.
The cameramen of Town Bloody Hall weren't actually allowed inside New York's Town Hall and thus the secretive hand-held camerawork feels as raw and vigorous as the debate it captures. Rarely still, the camera does a great job at panning across the stage and audience; giving us revealing shots regarding the mood of the crowd and panelists. This improvisatory type of filmmaking is quite an achievement.
Despite the incredibly dated views of Norman Mailer (in a documentary provided with the Criterion edition it seems he changed some of his ways) Town Bloody Hall is a fun picture that will inspire you to write a socio-pollical article or join a debate team. Pre-Twitter and MAGA, these "civil" yet disruptive debates seem to be a relic of the past.
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