-the crowd outside the courthouse cheers as the trial of the Chicago 7 is about to begin, and while these may be calls pertaining to the infamous trial in 1969, what the audience do not realize at this point in the film is that it is a call to them (the audience) as well. Nay, it is a call to the whole world, that they should be watching this riveting and relevant film, which despite it transpiring decades ago, is all the more relevant to our times today.
It is the late 1960s and the height of the Vietnam war has thousands upon thousands of Americans dead, a number of different organizations have been actively calling for an end to war. Protestors storm the streets, Martin Luther King Jr. has just been assassinated, racism is also central to these protests -sounds familiar? Seems like it is all deja vu, but instead of a war, we have a pandemic.
Things have come to a startling climax in Chicago in 1968 during the Democratic National Convention when the National Guard, U.S. Army troops and Chicago police officers are set against 10,000 demonstrators.
From these protests, eight defendants are charged by the federal government with conspiracy to cross state lines in order to incite violence; and thus begins the trial of the Chicago 7.
How 8 became 7 is for you dear reader to find out.
Writer and director Aaron Sorkin does not waste time or mince words, and with sharp editing quickly and effectively brings you into the fray, I love that they kept surprises for drops of reveals that keep the audience engaged. It was really clever how they did not give everything away at the beginning.
More than just sharp and clever editing, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’is also well written, with many, many lines, worthy of speeches, I had to pause and write them down! Case in point:
“I think the institutions of our democracy are wonderful things that right now are populated by some terrible people.”
Also, an exchange between defense attorney William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) and Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen):
“So how do overthrow or dismember as you say, your government peacefully?”
“In this country we do it every four years.” -which is another reminder to register to vote and to practice your right to vote! To be able to participate in creating a government you want. A chance to cut away with the old and make make for the new.
And since, we have mentioned a couple of the actors from the film, we must go ahead and talk about its very talented ensemble cast, we have already mentioned Rylance and of course Cohen-who absolutely steals the show, if he does not have any nominations for his performance- we riot!
Jerry Rubin is Jerry Rubin who joins Cohen’s Abbie Hoffman as leaders of the Youth International Party or the “Yippies” (it’s pre 70s). Eddie Redmayne is Tom Hayden, he is joined by Alex Sharp as Rennie Davis, they are Leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). John Carroll Lynch is David Dellinger, Leader of Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam. Booby Seale (Yahya Abdul Mateen II) is the National Chairman of the Black Panther Party. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Federal Prosecutor Richard Schultz.
Director Aaron Sorkin creates a compelling courtroom drama not seen in a long time, one particular scene had my insides quivering and tears in my eyes.
The film is filled with such powerful messages will only make you look at your current situation, which brings us to the political situation in our own country.
It makes you wonder, and it absolutely eludes me how can a nation who overthrew a dictator through a peaceful revolution be reduced to being shamed when questioning a government plagued by corruption and in no way was satisfactory in its response to the ongoing pandemic- Day 200+ with a possibility of being on lockdown until the end of the year.
A government who uses clever word play such as-the “Anti” Terror Bill to silence and discourage dissent, who paints a picture and makes crying for the blood of “drug users” and “activists” normal, and who calls and red-tags as terrorists anyone who opposes them, yet uses words like “advocacy” when their own Facebook pages are taken down due to “coordinated inauthentic behavior” -Facebook’s words not mine.
There are many things to love about “The Trial of the Chicago 7” as a film-from the writing, editing to the acting, yet it is its modern parallelism that shouldn’t escape us. The film reminds us that -“The whole world is watching!” Yet, we should also be on the watch, be on the lookout and we must always be brave, as the Chicago 7 were.
“We must depend not so much on the bravery of individuals, you see, as upon the bravery of a whole population.”
-Frank Herbert
Dune