Chicago 10
Written and Directed by: Brett Morgen
Starring: Hank Azaria, Dylan Baker, Jeffrey Wright, James Urbaniak, Mark Ruffalo, Roy Scheider, Nick Nolte, Amy Ryan

With the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and public support dwindling over the past few years, comparisons to the Vietnam War are becoming more and more frequent. Sure, there are plenty of differences between the two conflicts, but the bottom line is that they are both seen as monumental screw-ups on the part of the U.S. government, leading soldiers to die for a cause that many of their fellow citizens disagree with.

A lot has changed since the ’60s, however, and Brett Morgen’s documentary Chicago 10 only serves to underline that point. The movie covers the events that followed the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where eight anti-war activists were arrested and put on trial for allegedly inciting a riot (the name Chicago 10 also includes their lawyers, who went down with them).

Of course, it was pretty obvious from the start that the trial was a complete sham, aimed at putting these radicals behind bars with very little evidence to back it up. It became a huge media circus, with people camping out near the courthouse in support of those on trial, the defendants openly mocking the judge and later speaking about it publicly after each session.

Indeed, for someone like myself who grew up in the 80’s, a lot of the stuff captured in this film is pretty incredible. It starts slow, but as it builds up to the riot it becomes intense and almost overwhelming, not just because of the violence that occurred, but also because of the size of the crowd. Activism ain’t what it used to be, and nowadays you simply don’t see thousands of young people taking to the streets in order to make their voices heard. There are some shocking scenes of police brutality here, and even if they were provoked, there is simply no justification for the tactics the cops used on that night.

Although the footage and vintage interviews alone make the movie worth seeing, the way in which the trial is recreated is what sets Chicago 10 apart from any other documentary I’ve ever seen. Brett Morgen recruited a number of big name actors to act out everything that happened using court transcripts, and then animated visuals to go with their voices. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought the art style looked like a low budget knockoff of Bob Sabiston’s rotoscoping style used in Richard Linklater’s Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. However, after watching the movie, I have to say that the the 3-D cel shaded look used here is distinct and different, and I actually really dug it.

A lot of the movie’s truly memorable moments happen during these animated sequences, the most unbelievable of which is when Bobby Seale (voiced by Jeffrey Wright) is gagged and bound for demanding his constitutional rights be upheld (a request that went ignored). I will say that the representation of Judge Julius Hoffman (voiced by the late Roy Scheider) felt a little bit exaggerated and overly spiteful, but it’s possible that it is closer to reality than I know. Although some of the defendants sometimes come across as smarmy and full of themselves, I have to admit that they provide plenty of funny comments and amusing stunts throughout.

We’ve already heard that a big budget fictionalized version of this story is in the works, possibly from Steven Spielberg or Paul Greengrass (who would be awesome for the riot scene alone). It’s obviously a very significant event in U.S. history, and one that still resonates today. Stuart Townsend’s recent movie Battle in Seattle, for example, tells of a similar clash between protesters and police that happened in Seattle in 1999. It leads one to question how much really has changed. Nowadays, would there have even been a trial? Some of the injustices depicted in Chicago 10 could (and probably do) still happen today, but it all goes on behind closed doors now.

The DVD is basically a barebones release, which is a bit disappointing. The only extra is a remix music video, and this is definitely the kind of movie where I wanted more background on everything that happened, and maybe even a behind-the-scenes of how they did the animation for the courtroom scenes. Regardless, Chicago 10 is a one-of-a-kind documentary, and if you’re in any way politically-minded, or just interested in 1960’s counterculture, then this is a must-see. — Sean

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