As Sorkin tells it, this project began 13 years ago. He was summoned to Steven Spielberg’s house one Saturday morning. Spielberg said he wanted to do a movie about the Chicago 7 and wondered if Sorkin wanted to write it. Aaron said yes immediately. He then went home, called his father, and asked who the Chicago 7 were? Sorkin was 7 himself at the time of the riots and trial.
That led to a long winding road through development hell. And throw in a WGA strike for good measure. (Any project that has a long development history has a WGA strike somewhere in its background.) And it’s not like Sorkin didn’t have other things to write/produce/direct in the intervening years.
But with the Trump administration and the re-emergence of protests and protesters being vilified, the subject matter suddenly took on a greater relevance. Originally schedule for theatrical release by Paramount, once the pandemic hit, Netflix stepped in, and thankfully released the movie BEFORE the election.
Sorkin assembled an amazing cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Sasha Baron Cohen, Yahya Abul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, and Frank Langella. (NOTE: On my upcoming podcast episode that drops later tonight, Rob Long and I discuss having to fire Frank Langella from a pilot. That said, he’s AMAZING in this.)
The story itself is riveting and all too similar to what’s going on now. That’s why I recommend you see it, and do so before November 3rd.
The actors apparently all worked for scale, but I’m sure a big incentive was getting to speak Sorkin dialogue. It’s just lyrical and accomplishes so much on so many levels. The trial itself lasted over 6 months. There are 21,000 pages of transcriptions. Numerous books exist on the subject. To winnow all of that down to two hours, make it clear, make it entertaining, create multi-dimensional characters, establish relationships and subplots, and consistently crackle — that’s an extraordinary achievement. And Sorkin pulls it off. I must admit, I go to many plays and play readings and think to myself, “this would be so much better if Aaron Sorkin wrote it.” He really has a gift with dialogue and for me, it’s a pleasure to hear. Give me that over a CGI superhero slugfest any day.
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 streams on Netflix. Oh... and Sorkin did a great job of directing too.
31 comments :
Ken! Loved the movie and enjoyed reading your review.
But I don't know why you had to take a shot at superhero movies on the way out.
I can enjoy The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and still enjoy Avengers: Infinity War. No one's got a gun to my head forcing me to choose one form of entertainment over another. I can enjoy both!
Thanks for hearing me out. It just stood out as a weird point to end on.
Your pal in Milwaukee,
Jim
Agreed. Thanks Ken, well said. I was knocked out by it too and it's definitely timely. Aaron Sorkin is brilliant.
I saw a TV movie on the trial decades ago, but I'm sure this is much better. With all the memorable characters in the Chi Seven, the attorney with his glasses up on his forward (the name escapes me right now) is the most memorable.
I totally agree with your sentiment that it could easily be the movie of the year. I remember that time so well but this gave me an opportunity to go back and take a look at each individual character and how their lives turned out. That was a history lesson in itself. I completely enjoyed this movie and could watch it again.
"I don't know why you had to take a shot at superhero movies on the way out."
Probably because it requires an Ark to get through the flood of superhero movies, while the amount of intelligent Aaron Sorkin scripted movies is comparatively a drip from a not-very-leaky faucet. There is no balance in what is offered.
For Mike Barer:
There have been two (2) previous TV versions of the Chicago 7 trial.
In 1970, the BBC dramatized the trial transcripts for TV; it was shown here in the US in '75.
They put together an impressive cast, including Morris Carnovsky as Judge Hoffman, Cliff Gorman as Abbie Hoffman, Ronny Cox as Jerry Rubin, Robert Loggia as attorney Leonard Weinglass, and a bunch of others you might also recognize.
When this played on PBS in '75, columnist Bob Greene set up a showing for the real Judge Julius Hoffman; the resulting column was one of his better ones.
Fast-forward to 1987: HBO put together a "docu-drama" (this is probably the one you saw) with David Opatoshu as Judge Hoffman, Michael Lembeck as Abbie Hoffman, and Robert Loggia again, this time as William Kunstler.
In this version, many of the real people appeared for interviews alongside the actors who played them; just a bit surreal ...
The lawyer with the glasses was of course Bill Kunstler, who was as much a performer as anybody; shortly before his passing, Kunstler played himself, glasses and all, in an episode of Law & Order, and clearly had a ball doing it (I've always suspected that given the chance, Kunstler would have loved to play himself in any dramatization).
Question for Ken (or anyone who wants it):
Does this new version include Mayor Dick Daley's courtroom appearance and testimony?
(One of the earlier versions did; the guy they got for Daley was not a good choice, in my view).
Just askin', is all ...
William Kunstler, who also played himself in the biopic The Doors. I'm not sure if Kunstler actually defended Morrison during the iconic singer's obscenity trial.
Did you watch The West Wing reunion? What did you think?
Agreeing with Craig's point, there used to be a balance. The summer movies of the 80s, 90s and even the early 2000s had a wide range of genres. You got True Lies, Speed, Forrest Gump, The Shadow, Clear and Present Danger, The Flintstones, The Mask, The Lion King, The Client and The Crow all in one summer. Just three superhero movies in that.
Now the typical summer is a bunch of superhero movies, a Fast and Furious sequel, and reboots.
Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer liked the movie. He is a political columnist. I am a Chicago Trib reader. I sent that article to the Conservative columnist John Kass His reply was that it was BS. For some one who was 12 at the time I doubt he had much a memory of what was going. I on the other hand was 21. I am pretty sure I had a much better idea as to what was happening. Here is an interesting column about one of the jurors from the trial. She was more on the conservative side. https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/mary-schmich/ct-met-schmich-chicago-7-fritz-20201015-qctntqcnsfaa5mcgtsntvm64um-story.html
I enjoyed the movie and would highly recommend it - despite the curious changes from the actual story. If any real event had enough drama to be sustained for 2 hours one would think this was it. The female FBI agent seemed to be created to give Jerry Rubin some comedic moments. Bobby Seale was bound and gagged in the courtroom, but that occurred prior to Fred Hampton being assassinated. No one kept the names of the dead soldiers, but names were read during the trial, by David Dellinger, not Tom Hayden. These changes, I understand, were made for dramatic reasons -- and they worked. Like most of Aaron Sorkin's work, the dialogue was cracking. It was almost too clean - the perfect words said at the perfect time during a very messy and confusing time. But as a representation of this event, the movie is really effective and again, I urge everyone to see it -- you will be entertained.
Thanks for the recommendation, Ken. Speaking of super hero CGI, what do you think of "The Boys" on Amazon prime?
Can't wait for the sequel, Chicago 8, Electric Boogalo! Hopefully it will be in theatres.
Can't believe this all started with that stage play.
Thank you, Ken, I just watched and loved it. I'm sure Sorkin had fun writing the line "The president isn't a client of the attorney general" in 2020. The writing and direction were flawless and the cast was perfect -- Mark Rylance was better as Kunstler than Kunstler was in the "White Rabbit" episode of LAW & ORDER.
I was never a "Borat" fan but Baron Cohen is terrific here. I hope he does more straight acting and less pranking.
To me, it was unfortunate that Sorkin changed major facts for dramatic effect. (For example, by creating the pretty federal agent who fake-romanced Jerry Rubin in order to collect information -- she apparently never existed, although he was befriended by male infiltrators.)
I know that many docudramas add facts or combine characters -- but the specifics of what actually happened in Chicago were of paramount importance to this court case. That's why, for example, Sorkin showed police describing events in a certain way on the witness stand, then showed the "real" scene to prove that person was lying.
Incidentally, I got to interview Abbie Hoffman (by phone from a different city) toward the end of his life. Despite everything he had gone through, he was still as outspoken and witty as portrayed in this film.
Kind of funny how Sorkin's "The Social Network" has turned out to be a Super Villain origin story.
Although I think it will turn out that Zuckerberg is actually a lizard alien like in the old TV series "V" which starred the most beautiful brunette actress since Natalie Wood: Morena Baccarin.
Sacha Baron Cohen isnt just a great actor, he's a hero. It's just been reported that the new Borat film shows Rudy Giuliani playing with his genitals while in a room with the actress playing Borat's 15 year old daughter!!!
Bye bye, Rudy!
I remember the trial- of course back then TV camera weren't allowed in the courtroom, the networks used artist sketches. Many years later I was listening to Milt Rosenberg on WGN and his guests were some prominent Chicago attorneys. The subject of the trial came up and the lawyers said that Julius Hoffman pulled rank and lobbied to get the case assigned to his court because he believed the trial would make him a national celebrity. When he got the case, the reaction among the Chicago legal community was 1) Oh God, this is going to be a fiasco and 2) Any convictions will get overturned on appeal.
Thanks for the heads up on this, Ken,
The Chicago Seven Trial was personally "famous" for a trivial reason. PBS broadcast a docu-drama of the trial and did not "blip out" a "bad word" ("bullshit") - the first such in my memory - unless on-court, in-action NBA-player expletives count - audio for early-70s games-of-the-week.
Thanks too, for the Frank Langella notice. He was TERRIFIC as KGB "handler"/officer in The Americans.
Wait, so the Chicago 7 aren't Shadowcat, Supergirl, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Blue Beetle, Tigra, and Dick Tracy? : -) (Yes, at some point they all operated in Chicago)
Thought you might be interested in this one --
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/sorkin-hoffman-chicago-7/Content?oid=83657890
You would agree with Mr. Joravsky on a great many things... but he didn't like this movie as you did.
Many in Chicago viewed the 1968 Democratic Convention very differently from the way it was portrayed and perceived everywhere else. Feelings still run hot a half century later. How to explain the difference in perception? You see it all the time in football games: The referee sees and penalizes the retaliation, but misses the cheap shot that led to it. The TV cameras in 1968 were like referees -- they caught the reactions, but---the old coppers and their families will tell you---missed the provocations.
But I do think there was much more unanimity of opinion on the trial: It was viewed as a farce here in Chicago as well, both by persons who thought the Yippies should have been strung up from the nearest yardarm as well as by those who bought into the 'police riot' narrative.
The truth is a). the protestors did come to Chicago to foment riots and possibly violence
b). the police, led on by Mayor Daley I, did overreact and it was caught on television
c). the trial was a farce, in large measure because of Judge Hoffman, but in no small part because of the defendants
d). the net effect of this, which most people conveniently forget today, is that the New Left was a determining factor, if not the determining factor, in getting Richard Nixon elected in a close election
e). the Vietnam War went on longer than it would have otherwise because of all this
So you liked it? Just guessing...
"Can you imagine if I had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for reelection? You think Fox News might have been a little concerned about that? They would have called me ‘Beijing Barry.’"
I love that man.
My brush with history:
In 1968 I was 16 and our family had what was to be our last big family trip. We drove from Los Angeles to New York and returned. My dad wanted to spend a day in Chicago but we were unable to do so because there were no rooms because the Democratic Convention was in town. So we drove through just to see the sights. Along Lake Shore drive there were a number of pedestrian overpasses each manned with two police officers, one with a rifle and one with a pair of binoculars. As we drove through the city we saw a number of small groups of protesters, maybe 10 or 15 each. Each of the groups were surrounded by a larger group of police. In the distance we could see clouds of smoke from tear gas. My dad really wanted to drive by Wrigley Field because he always wanted to see it. As it turned out, the area in front of the stadium was being used as a staging area and there were hundreds of cops hanging out there, some of them playfully dueling with their batons. We drove out of town and a few hours later, when we stopped at a hotel and turned on the TV, we learned those cops were in the process of rioting.
I'm glad everyone enjoyed the movie, which I will have to skip because of the factual issues mentioned above (I have a personal thing about this sort of thing). If you did see it and you'd like a fact check, this one seems well-sourced: https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/10/22/i-was-in-the-room-where-it-happened-one-womans-perspective-on-the-trial-of-the-chicago-7/
wg
My VERY passing brush with the Chicago 7: One of the most famous images of the trial is the courtroom sketch by Verna Sadock of Bobby Seale bound and gagged (her story of being in the courtroom that day is far more interesting than mine). One day about 20 years later, I was at a street festival in Chicago that had artists' booths and saw the Seale sketch hanging in a booth manned by Verna. I asked her if she was selling the sketch (!?) and she said no, but she would make a copy for me, which she did, and I still have. I really do feel like I own a piece of history...
My daughter and her mother have Netflix. I spoke to my daughter and suggested that she watch it. (I wasn't aware that it was an Aaron Sorkin production.) I just finished watching the broadcast of the 1999 Broadway production of 'Death of a Salesman" which aired four times on Showtime in 2001. It is being streamed through this weekend only at playbill.com It is being streamed/broadcast for the benefit of the Actors Fund. I saw the play during its Broadway run. Incredible performances by Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Franz. Great play. Great production.
Thank you for the tip, by the way. I'll put it on my watch list.
Hey Ken thought you'd be interested in this. So Sorkin was on Wired answering internet questions and one was what television show he wish he could've worked on. And sonuvagun one of the three shows he listed was MASH with the sequiter that he wouldn't want to actually write it because he doesn't feel capable enough to do it justice
https://youtu.be/V-ETDTXUnB0?t=354
If that isn't a compliment of the highest order from someone you've mentioned in high regards!
Great flick, I saw it in a cinema in London 3 weeks ago (yes, some of the better ones are open), and Aaron Sorkin was the perfect director to handle the project with appropriate attention to detail. I had real-life face-to-face encounters with a couple of the characters, Jerry Rubin as a Yippie leader in a small seminar on my strife-torn post-Kent State college campus blocks away from the White House in May 1970 (what a time and place to be a freshman!), and Ramsey Clark as a crusading international political attorney in meetings in his NYC office in 1990. Jeremy Strong and Michael Keaton don’t physically resemble those men, but generally I thought the performances seemed spot-on.
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