In 1968, a mass of counterculture activists spearheaded a massive protest in Chicago’s Grant Park, hoping to draw attention away from the Democratic National Convention and onto their anti-Vietnam War demonstration. To say their plan succeeded, is an understatement.
All eyes were on the “Chicago 7,” after the protest sparked a riot between police and protestors, overtaking the city and leading to political unrest (sound familiar?). Charged with criminal conspiracy and crossing state lines to incite a riot, the seven men and the trial that followed became one of the most infamous events in history. And with The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (on Netflix tomorrow), the story comes to audiences by way of Mr. Courtroom Drama himself: Aaron Sorkin.
Acclaimed for his Oscar-winning screenwriting but here directing his second film, Sorkin assembles a top-notch cast of actors, including Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Frank Langella, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plus short but sweet appearances by Kelvin Harrison Jr, and Michael Keaton, to name a few. To be expected in any Sorkin work, there is a lot going on here: from fast-paced dialogue to quick cuts that jump between archival footage and reenactments, The Trial Of The Chicago 7 is sealed with the stamp of Sorkin. If you love his previous work, I won’t have to sell you on this film. I know you’ll watch it anyway.
A line that’s repeated throughout the film is the protestor’s battle cry “The whole world is watching!” That was true in 1969, and it’s still true today. Here we are, in 2020, reliving eerily similar scenarios of unlawful police brutality, peaceful demonstrations turned into aggressive brawls, and a legal system than runs on bias (conscious or unconscious).
Sorkin said it himself at Tuesday’s drive-in screening I attended at the Rose Bowl: “This film will upset you. Anger you. But above all else, it will inspire you.” It’s no coincidence that the film’s release is just weeks before the most important Presidential election of our lives yet, and if there is one takeaway from The Trial of the Chicago 7, it’s this: every voice in our country matters, and has the potential to change the world–even it starts as just seven.
Distributed by Netflix, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is streaming on Netflix this Friday, October 16, 2020.
