The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

Movie, 2020, R

Premise - Seven (questionably eight) heads of the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago are put on trial for inciting a riot. The protestors were there to peacefully oppose the Vietnam War, and yet the large crowds spark tension and violence with the Chicago PD. The trial asks the question of whether these seven can be responsible, on a conspiratorial level, for the actions of the thousands of protestors that night in Chicago.

 

Review - This film was nominated for Best Picture and I would not be upset if it wins. I was incredibly entertained from the moment I pressed play on Netflix. This is an incredibly fast-paced, witty film with a great deal of editing humor. Editing this film must have been so much fun, bouncing around the different defendants (even mid-sentence) to show their varying perspectives, and also flashing back and forth chronologically in time between the dates of the trial and the actual protests. 

 

I admit, at first, I was disappointed when the film, after introducing the characters pre-protest, jumped immediately ahead in time several months later to the trial. I thought to myself, "Aww, I know it's a court drama, but I wanted to see the actual protests portrayed on screen!" I figured that the reasons they didn't were due to budgeting, and that it'd be more economical for the vast majority of the film to take place directly in the courtroom. I was pleasantly surprised to see the editing techniques that show us flashbacks of the event when they become relevant to the trial. Nonetheless, I think these flashbacks could have been better spaced/paced at times, because overall they were somewhat lackluster in the grand structure of the film.

 

I felt a lot of emotions watching this movie, to the point where I even teared up at the very end. I was not expecting to have that visceral of a reaction, but I suppose its due to my own nature as an anti-war pacifist, who was not alive during the Vietnam War but I hope that I would have vehemently opposed it if I were. The film is a commentary on the radical left, who are seen as illegitimate Americans for being anti-establishment, hippies, unprofessional, and anti-patriotic. To which I kept thinking... why are these a bad thing? The idea was that the majority of those on trial were supposed to be unlikeable by the general, more centrist public. But for me I was like... I love them all. They're heroes. Why are they seen as thugs?

 

The other, opposing modern-day comparison can be drawn to the Capitol riots incited by Trump. Because those on the left are often quick to blame Trump for being the leader. And in this case, I was quick to shoulder blame off of the protest leaders and say they were not responsible for the acts of others. So is this hypocritical? I don't think so, because I think the main factor is the role of the police department. The police department incited the riots themselves, in the case of the Trial of the Chicago 7, and modern day riots such as Black Lives Matter. In the case of the Capitol riots, you can't blame the role of police because they kinda just... let the Trump supporters do their thing if not participating themselves. What I love about this story too is that it creates ultimate ACAB film (92/100)

Quote - "Since this trial began, 4,752 US troops have been killed in Vietnam. And the following are their names..."

 

What to watch for - Okay I really couldn't tell if Eddie Redmayne's American accent was actually any good. I was too distracted because whatever was coming out of his mouth, at least it was sexy.

 

If you liked this film, I'd recommend Escape from Pretoria for the political vibe! And for the publicized trial vibe (and the political vibe too, actually), American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson

 

Directed by Aaron Sorkin

Distributed by Netflix