Peter Watkins - The Journey/Resan/Le Voyage (1986)

Considered the longest feature film ever made, this is, in a way, a follow up to Watkins quasi-documentary "The War Game", from 1965. Years in the making, and with plenty of resistance all around, this episodic look at the machines of war, and how people around the world accept its fact, certainly sheds some light on some things many of us have kept our head in the sand about. I think it would be a stretch if anybody laid claim to all of this being old news, or that they were fully aware of all of the various viewpoints expressed, perhaps Russian, Mozambican and Tahitian being the most far flung, while there are voices aplenty from the English speaking world. Japan, France, Mexico and Norway round out the “cast”.

There is a voice-over narration by Watkins himself, while the various languages are interpreted by a few voices, and, there is a man who explains the photos…

English and French subs only. The French ones are the only ones on the menu. Find the English ones with your remote.

This made quite the impression on me. With nearly 15 hours of film, I did not really get bogged down, viewing a few episodes a night. There 18 episodes of approximately 45 to 55 minutes apiece.

Watkins lets us know about once per episode, a running tally of how many millions is being spent in the industry of weapons and war, during the length of the film. You’ll probably be pretty surprised how much is spent in 15 hours