The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Trial of the Chicago 7_360P

The Trial of the Chicago 7-480P

The Trial of the Chicago 7-360P

The Trial of the Chicago 7-480P

The Trial of the Chicago 7-360P

The Trial of the Chicago 7-720P

Every time I watch one of these cartoons, I wonder just how dumb can america go. If you really want to know about the chicago 7 (actually 8) I highly recommend the documentary to start with, not this shiny plastic piece of hyperbolic fluff. This is the cartoon version and the timing is not coincidental. I won't argue with the facts in the movie but the whole production reminds me of the tv afternoon special movies that came out in the late 70s and early 80s. For those not old enough to know, before cable, before streaming, before vcrs, before video games, most of us only had a handful of viewing choices, and one of those choices was the 'afternoon special'. The good people at ABC (aka OTA broadcast tv network) came out with afternoon movies designed to pass on a morality message while babysitting us until the folks got off work. These movies were heavy on message; light on very good film making. Maybe this is the voice of the new american propaganda but I can't figure out what the message is here because it's not about vietnam, or anti-war. If you want to do a film about that, then you can't omit the irony of the war is that vietnam economically today is one of the leaders in southeast asia. Heck, they even have an amusement park now outside danang that's framed around a 17th century french village. Google it, if you don't believe me. And it's not about racism because bobby seale only plays a small part of the movie and a stereotype for the 60s at that. The justice system? Geez, there's a reason why most courts, in most states, for most cases, are closed off from the public. Our legal system is far more nutty than portrayed in this movie. If it's supposed to be about the 60s and 70s, it's about as authentic as psychedelic. The closest equivalent I can think of is the way hollywood introduced and portrayed hippies, at that time, in mainstream tv as anyone who wore wide collars, beads, hip boots, bell bottoms in neon colors and said 'cool' and 'groovy' all the time. Or something on par with 'wild in the streets', which unfortunately, some people, even then and now, think as authentic real life. I mean, hollywood then had about as much understanding of the 60s culture as the plods who produced this cartoon. If you want to know more about the anti-war movement, or that period in general there's a lot of good documentaries, some on netflix dvd and youtube with actual stories and interviews with those who were there and involved. Unfortunately, this trial wasn't just about these 8 people but it was a trial of a whole generation and the irony is that the generation of chicago 7 (8) later went on to endorse 3 major wars in the middle east, and the longest war in history, and produced a baby who later went on to make this nonsense.

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 is not a bad movie but it has in my view a few problems of balance which impacts its overall ability to deliver a cohesive message. The first problem of balance regards its narrative style, so much swinging from farcical to self-important to make you wander if you are watching a drama or a comedy.In the same way, some characters - lime the hippy couple Hoffmann/Rubin - swing from almost clownish roles to too serious and self-righteous ones to be fully believable. The second problem of balance is about the focus of the story; in real life, the most prominent figure in the trial was Bobby Seal, here relegated to a secondary and at times almost caricatural role in favour of the more folkloristic hippies.

Rewriting the trial and it's left wing characters into some sort of liberal propaganda film, including the cowardly option of using (deceased) Abbie Hoffman to spout Sorkin's centrist worldviews (literally speeches he never gave) in direct contrast to Hoffman's actual real world far left, anti-state/anarchist leanings - is an ethical disgrace. Despite its shocking rewriting of history, i have to give the movie 5 - it is super well made propaganda. Consider it fiction, and enjoy it more.

... or guilty until proven innocent. Nothing like a good court room caper to ratchet up the blood pressure, especially with Frank Langella presiding as the ever so slightly biased beak, and doing it to absolute perfection. Packed full, just like the court room of top drawer performances, it leaves you aghast that these scenarios could ever exist in the first instance while thankful that three British thespians can fill the voids American actors seem unable to satisfy.