Customer Reviews

Chicago 10

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In September of 1969, Abbie Hoffman and fellow radical activists Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner were hauled into court along with Black Panther Bobby Seale on a grand jury indictment for allegedly conspiring to incite the massive anti-Vietnam war protests and resulting violent mayhem that transpired in the Chicago environs during the 1968 Democratic Convention. What resulted is arguably the most overtly political "show trial" in American history.

Using a mélange of animation, archival footage and voiceover re-creation by well-known actors, Brett Morgen expands even further on the eye-catching multimedia technique that he and co-director Nanette Burstein used in their 2002 doc The Kid Stays in the Picture.

The bulk of the animated sequences are re-enactments from the trial itself, with dialog lifted directly from courtroom transcripts (and trust me, no rewrites were required because you couldn't make this stuff up). This visual technique perfectly encapsulates the overall circus atmosphere of the trial, which was largely fueled by Hoffman and Rubin's amusing yet effective use of "guerilla theatre" to disrupt the proceedings and accentuate what they felt to be the inherent absurdity of the charges. The courtroom players are voiced by the likes of Nick Nolte (as prosecutor Thomas Foran), Jeffrey Wright (as Bobby Seale) and the late Roy Scheider (in full "fuddy-duddy" mode as Judge Hoffman).

Do not, however, mistake this film as a gimmicky and superficial "cartoon" that only focuses on the hijinx. There is plenty of evidence on hand, in the form of archival footage (fluidly incorporated by editor Stuart Levy) to remind us that these were very serious times. The footage of the Chicago police wildly bludgeoning any and all who crossed their path (demonstrator and innocent bystander alike) still has the power to shock and physically sicken the viewer. There is a protracted montage of this violence that seems to run on for at least 10 minutes; sensitive viewers may find this sequence upsetting.

I have to give kudos for the excellent soundtrack; or rather, for what songs are not on the soundtrack. For once, a film about the "turbulent 60s" does not feature "Fortunate Son" by CCR, "Get Together" by the Youngbloods or (most notably) "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield (you can always re-watch Forrest Gump if you wish to wallow in trite 60s clichés). Appropriately incendiary music by Rage Against the Machine, The Beastie Boys and Eminem balances well with less-plundered period songs from Black Sabbath ("War Pigs"), Steppenwolf ("Monster") and the MC5 ("Kick Out the Jams").

If I have any quibble with Chicago 10, it is a minor one. Although some of us are old enough (ahem) to remember the high-profile media coverage of the trial and grok the circumstances surrounding it, perhaps a little hindsight analysis or discussion of historical context would have been helpful for younger viewers. Perhaps Morgen wanted to steer clear of the usual clichés, like parading a series of talking heads with gray ponytails, sentimentalizing and waxing poetically about the halcyon days of yore. Besides, if you "remember" the 60s, you probably weren't there anyway, right?

The CHICAGO 10 DVD is a gripping movie about the 1968 trial of the "Chicago 8" (later the Chicago 7 when Bobby Seale was separated from the others) who were charged with conspiracy and inciting a riot, among other charges, for the massive demonstrations that took place during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. People, especially young people, from all over the USA convened to protest the Vietnam War when the massive march went awry and cops began attacking the marchers.

Anyway, the movie combines animation and archival footage of the events that took place during that August 1968. The animation is mainly in the courtroom, which is based on the court transcripts. Everything else is shown through footage either from news feeds or amateur video.

I found the movie gripping as the action switches back and forth from the court house trial to the actions happening during the marches etc., culminating in the mess that was captured by news cameras covering the convention of police unloading on helpless people.

Unfortunately there aren't any extras other than a remixed trailer for the movie. I would have liked to see some more footage of the night in question, but I guess what's in the film is enough.

Recommended for anyone who likes the 60s, history, or counter culture.

The SF Chronicle movie page editors headlined their review: "Chicago 10 painted as heroes, but they come off as obnoxious." Millions murdered in a crazy war on the other side of the world by that infamous President from Texas (Lyndon "How many boys did you kill today?" Johnson, not today's imposter George W. Bush), thousands and thousands of young draftees thrown into the vortex of slaughter -- and Abbie Hoffman is obnoxious? Read more: http://www.marcnorton.us/108962/104854.html.

This was a fantastic film. The information itself was very interesting, but the filmmakers put a spin on it, and in a completely unbiased way, the explain what happened at the convention and the trial using state-of-the-art animation techniques, moving pictures, archival footage, and great music. A must see for any baby-boomer, people interested in politics, and modern hippies.

Wake up!!!

And this is time to break the real second American Revolution!!!!

"Chicago 10" is the best documentary I have ever seen of the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention protest. That I'm aware, it's also only the second movie of the Chicago 7+1 trial, which grew out of the U.S. government's attempt to justify the use of excessive force against convention protesters. Counterproductively for the government, the trial immortalized the eight defendants and their two lawyers for which this movie is named.

I've never seen most of this filmed protest footage. At last, there is enough original 1968 material organized in one movie, to visualize the Chicago physical situation experienced by perhaps 40,000 people on all sides. The documentary is presented by sequential intercutting of trial transcript and recreation video animations, with 1968 actuality films, TV, radio, and audio recordings. Historians can now see what was happening almost sequentially in several large outdoor venues.

The 1970 Chicago Seven trial transcript helps organize the original 1968 protest footage. The shockingly bloody park and street confrontation scenes keep the trial's political philosophy arguments relevant and interesting.

A mixed classical and rock movie score is alien in a documentary, and some of the classical pieces are strikingly inappropriate. I recall much of the music as excessively loud. But enough of everything else worked that a defense of this overwhelming music as avant-garde art is acceptable to me.

The "Chicago 10" production device of realistic human animation solves the problem of adding visual interest to audio-only original recordings, and blends well with full voice-over animation of the trial's transcript-only original record. 1968 was an era on the cusp of transition from black-and-white to color film. The jarring alternations between the two technologies are motivated by the unfolding street action, and are a possibly unique feature of this production - mimicked even by its own animations.

I recommend this Brett Morgen documentary for its innovatively blended presentation of two difficult-to-understand perspectives of the same politically earthshaking event. I'll ask my library to purchase a copy of the DVD, but unfortunately it will not include the short piece which PBS's Independent Lens used to fill out the last 20 minutes of its time slot for "Chicago 10" on 2008-10-22.

The short piece was a 1970 British "World in Action / The Big news" report on the Chicago Seven trial. It proved to be critical to me for an explanation by Chicago Seven lawyer Leonard Weinglass of the devious 1968 Anti-Riot law under which the defendants were convicted and sentenced for a thought crime. It criminalized the crossing of state lines with the intent to threaten property or people, even if the threat was not carried out.

Though not seen in "Chicago 10", professional media has made the 1968 protesters famous for mass chanting, "The whole world is watching". Now the future world can almost eyewitness these events, brilliantly expanded beyond merely professional moving images.

In March of 1968 a secret meeting of anti-war groups took place in northern Illinois to discuss what types of protests should be organized for the Democratic National Convention to be held in Chicago that year. The discussions were led by two groups; MOBE (Mobilization Against the War) represented by David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, and Tom Hayden and the newly formed YIPPIES (Youth International Party) represented by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. The protests were being stepped up in response to President Lyndon Johnson's increased involvement in Vietnam which so far had resulted in nearly 20,000 American dead and countless wounded. In addition to the draft call being increased from 17,000 "over a period of time" to 35,000 per month, Johnson had also increased American military presence from 75,000 to 125,000 in one fell swoop.

The two groups had very different approaches to the anti-war movement. MOBE was a traditional group with straight forward, easily understood methods. "We are coming to Chicago...not to disrupt the convention, not to confront the police, the National Guard troops, or the men of the United States Army. But to challenge the policies of militarization that have been felt so strongly and brutally in Vietnam," said MOBE co-founder Rennie Davis. The YIPPIES on the other hand were wild and crazy guys who believed that politics had become all lights and magic with which the current administration dazzled and then duped the public. Abbie Hoffman said,"...politics is the way you live not who you support. Its not in terms of rallies or speeches or political programs. Its in terms of image and transforming people's lives." When you put the MOBE and the YIPPIES together something was going to happen--and Chicago's despotic Mayor Richard Daley wasn't going to like it.

CHICAGO 10 is an exciting, vibrant recreation of the anti-war protests surrounding the Democratic Convention that resulted in the arrests and subsequent trials of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger,Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panthers who had only been IN Chicago for 2 or 3 hours. You may say, that's only 8 and you're right. The other 2 are their lawyers Leonard Weinglass and William Kunstler, who racked up almost 5 years in contempt of court charges during the trial. The film is composed of both live action footage of the real events (most notably the actual the attempts to march upon the convention center and later attacks by police and National Guardsmen upon the marchers) and animation that looks as if it were rotoscoped. The animation is used primarily for the courtroom scenes and uses an extremely colorful pallette, that gives everything a garish, almost carnival-like appearance--which is very appropriate given the nature of the trial.This is such a beautifully crafted film that I'm afraid I could never do it justice. The real tale is told as two threads, one of the trial and the other of the protest march that finally twist together to form the complete story of what actually happened and who these people really were.

How you respond to CHICAGO 10 will be completely determined by your political leanings. If you're a conservative who feels that all forms of bureaucracy should be revered then you will undoubtedly feel little sympathy for the protesters as they get the bejezus beaten out of them by the Chicago cops, who still have a tendency to do that to innocent people for no apparent reason on occasion. If you were a liberal who remembers those halcyon days then this film is a great way to see how old you really are. If you now look at these guys as rude little *&^%$(&^ who had it coming, then you should probably fill out that card that the AARP sent you because you are now officially old and your newfound conservative views reflect your age. As for me, I always found Abbie Hoffman to be rude and abrasive. and I doubted that the YIPPIE'S theatrical antics such as their attempt to levitate the Pentagon were ever helpful to the peace movement. But nobody deserved what Daley dished out. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS WATCHING US in 1968 and what they saw was a nation that sadly couldn't live up to its own standards.

The time: August 1968. The place: the Chicago Amphitheater, host to that year's Democratic National Convention. The event: the riots that broke out when an assortment of "hippies, yippees and just plain kids" took to the streets to protest the US' continuing involvement in the Vietnam War. The march and sit-in, originally billed as a "Festival of Life," turned violent when the ramped-up police and National Guard forces, estimated at well over 25,000 strong, began tear-gassing and billy-clubbing the demonstrators on the last night of the convention - in full view of the nation's citizens who watched in shock and amazement as it unfolded on their TV sets at home.

The demonstrations were largely organized by The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, from whose leadership ranks would come many of the men destined to go down in the annals of anti-establishment folklore as the Chicago 7 (the 10 of the title comes from the inclusion of Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale, who had his trial severed, and the two lawyers). After the incident, these men were placed on trial, charged with conspiracy and with violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968. All seven - David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, William Kunstler, Jerry Rubin, Rennie Davis and John Froines - were to wind up spending at least some time behind bars for their "crimes."

Written and directed by Brett Morgan, the documentary "Chicago 10" blends amazing archival footage with animated re-enactments of the trial - based on actual court transcripts - with A-list actors like Hank Azaria, Nick Nolte, Mark Ruffalo, Roy Scheider and Liev Schreiber providing the voices.

The movie provides a fascinating glimpse into not only those turbulent times but the minds of the men who helped to bring them about. For instance, it's amusing to note how the defendants treated the trial itself almost as if it were some form of subversive street-theater, in the hopes of antagonizing the conservative judge, Julius Hoffman (they really so seem to have gotten under his skin), and destroying the court's authority in the process. Also, in the months when the trial was going on, the defendants would fan out across the country on their off-hours, lecturing on colleges campuses - with most of the speaking fees going to defray the cost of the trial - raising awareness among the students and becoming counter-culture celebrities and spokesmen for a whole new generation of politically activated youngsters. Then the men would return to Chicago to resume their roles in the trial.

The final twenty minutes or so of the movie - as we watch the government forces move in to disperse the protestors and the subsequent chaos that ensued - are riveting and eye-opening to say the least. But the whole movie is engaging and informative and reminds us of just how fragile a thing the right to free speech and assembly can be even in a country that prides itself on that being the very foundation upon which its democracy is built.

I purchased this video to use for training. It has a great collection of archival film of the events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The animation - the court room scenes - are interesting. Many people may find that part disappointing.

This was without a doubt the worse film on the Chicago 8 I have seen to date. First off they try to get cute by adding the 2 lawyers to the list. How is it you do a movie on the event and not play CSN song "Chicago," a song which defined the event? The movie uses old film footage and where there was no film, they use cartoons to fill in. Normally I tear up and get a rush watching these kinds of films, this one mostly disgusted me.