** ¬? out of ****

At the turn of the 21st century, a battle was being fought on the streets of Seattle — one that pitted protestors hoping for a better world against the inhumane crimes committed by the World Trade Organization. “Battle in Seattle” is a dynamic, volatile and intensely powerful documentary about the ensuing riots that occurred between the protestors and the police.

The narrative itself, while based on true events, creates a fictitious centering on a group of anarchist activists, led by Jay (Martin Henderson). These characters have some sort of political or personal motivation to gather in Seattle at the end of 1999 in order to protest the WTO summit. Violent street-warfare ensues when a state of emergency is declared, calling on the police to attack the protestors.

Mayor Tobin (Ray Liotta) is horrified at this turn of events, and the attacks lead to the physical harm and imprisonment of many protestors. Even some innocent bystanders are assailed, such as Ella (Charlize Theron), the pregnant wife of officer Dale (Woody Harrelson). With all of the odds stacked against the protestors, these fateful days bring together Seattle’s citizens in an intense, edge-of-your-seat sequence of events that leads up to the provocative ending.

Even though it boasts a relatively well-known cast, including Liotta, Oscar-nominee Harrelson and Oscar-winner Theron, the film suffers from weak character development. However, this does not prevent some respectable performances from shining through. The best of these easily comes from Harrelson, whose simple character ultimately possesses the most dynamic range of emotions.

Another noteworthy performance is from Rade Serbedzija as Doctor Maric, a member of Doctors Without Borders, whose impassioned plea to members of the WTO to provide medicine for young, dying children in third-world countries actually made me tear up. The realities of these two performances lie in stark contrast with the disappointing one of Liotta as the mayor — his frustrations and excited speech come off as trying too hard.

Concerning the film’s narrative, the first half is relatively weak, suggesting no clear reason for the insertion of a fictitious set of character accounts to dramatize the Seattle riots. In fact, the occasional insertion of original documentary footage made me initially consider the film as a potentially better documentary. However, the turning point of the narrative came with the assault on Ella in the first day of police retaliation, and I realized then that the narrative is actually in place to emphasize a humanistic aspect of the events.

 The greatest theme of the film recalls the driving theme behind Frank Capra’s 1939 classic, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” In the film, Jimmy Stewart as Jefferson Smith is driven by the idea that “lost causes are the only causes worth fighting for.” The same ideology holds true for the protestors of this film, whose lost cause drives them to reject the inhumanities perpetrated by WTO. It is the character of Django (Andre Benjamin) who evokes the idea of the lost cause to re-inspire discouraged Jay.

All in all, “Battle in Seattle” marks a strong directorial debut for actor Stuart Townsend (a.k.a. Mr. Theron). His vision behind the camera instructs the realism he appropriates through the film’s messages. Meanwhile, the cinematography and editing are also greatly important to the film and directly contribute to its senses of frustration, dynamism and volatility.

“Battle in Seattle” is playing at The Belcourt Theatre.