298. The Trial Of The Chicago 7' movie review
.THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Cert 15
129 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong bloody violence, racism, sexual assault
"Did this really happen?"
As we viewed the Trial Of The Chicago 7 on Netflix, Mrs W and I were compelled to check how much the true story had been exaggerated for the benefit of movie-watchers
Astonishingly, Aaron Sorkin has stuck to many of the court transcripts and has even used real footage of the clashes between police and protestors in 1969.
We were flabbergasted at how the American legal and political system was used against its citizens and yet we then realise how little the United States has moved on in 50 years.
Aaron Sorkin's movie is one of the very best of this ghastly year.
It is riveting from start to finish, supremely acted and pieced together with great skill by a writer and director on top of his game.
The Trial Of The Chicago 7 stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman, a hippy who led a protest movement to the windy city to protest against the Vietnam war during the Democrat Convention.
He was charged with inciting a riot with fellow hippy Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong) and Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp) - leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society.
Others in the dock were David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) and John Froines (Daniel Flaherty).
And there was Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), the Black Panther Party chairman who was not even at the riot of 1969 but appears to have been lumped in with the others to make them appear more radical than they were.
This was one of the many tricks of the prosecution, led by federal prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who seem to be in cahoots with the judge, Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella).
There is no doubt that Langella's performance will live longest in the memory because of the outlandish way in which the judge directed the trial.
Every intervention makes a mockery of the justice system.
Mark Rylance stars as defence counsel William Kunstler who faces a record number of contempt-of-court writs by simply arguing the law.
It is a farce which, if we had watched it five years ago, would have made us appreciate how much times have moved on.
However, it has much greater poignancy given the state of the world today and the lead-up to the potential re-election of one of the most unstable world leaders of our time.
The United States endorsed police brutality in 1969 - if Trump gets in it will rubberstamp even greater restrictions on American freedoms.
Do its people really want to turn the clock back even further than 50 years?
Reasons to watch: Riveting true story
Reasons to avoid: Brutality
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 9.5/10
Did you know? In 1982, the Executive Committee of the U.S. District Court ordered that Judge Julius Hoffman not be assigned any new cases because of his age and complaints that he was acting erratically and abusively from the bench. Nevertheless, Hoffman continued to preside over his ongoing cases until his death from natural causes the next year at the age of 87.
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