[4 articles]
DVD Review: Chicago 10
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/24/165728.php
Published August 24, 2008
Written by Fantasma el Rey
Chicago 10's tagline, "The Convention Was The Drama. The Trial Was
The Comedy," is perfectly illustrated in the films' hour and
forty-three minutes. Blending actual footage and animation makes this
documentary something different and unique, as were the participants
in those events of 1968. Chicago was not only host to the Democratic
Party convention that year but also to youthful subculture figures
who would rise out of the chaos of those days as legends. Abbie
Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and Bobby Seale would become
inspiration for many, many people for years to come. Not only in the
world of politics but in music as well, fueling the fire for bands
such as Rage Against The Machine and System Of A Down.
The 1968 Democratic convention was to be the stage for one of the
largest gatherings of youth in peaceful protest. There were to be
bands playing and hippies dancing toward peace in nearby Lincoln Park
but that was not to be the case. As the crowd grew and the march
began, police presence became more visible and active to prevent
anyone from getting too close to the steps of the International
Amphitheatre. Alternate routes were taken, yet things still got bad.
Violence erupted everywhere, much of it caught on film.
The key figures were rounded up and accused of conspiracy, inciting
to riot, and other charges related to the protests and so on and so
forth. There is more to the story but that is what Chicago 10 goes
over and covers in graphic detail. I'm not going to recreate those
days here in type; I'll let you watch the film or seek out more
detailed accounts of those days than I could ever give.
The film does do a wonderful job in bringing back to life those days
of color and horror, though. Existing archive film is used when and
where available while animation based on court transcripts is used
for the courtroom and other places where cameras were not present, as
in that key moment when the "Yippie" (Youth International Party) name
was born. During those latter scenes, the actors used as voice talent
for our main characters do good work in capturing the personalities
of the people they are voicing. Hank Azaria (Abbie Hoffman), Mark
Ruffalo (Rubin), Jeffery Wright (Seale), and Roy Scheider (Judge
Julius Hoffman) lend their skills to help paint the picture.
Also lending talent and punctuation to the film is the music of the
Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine. The music is put to good
use by writer/director Brett Morgen and highlights scenes perfectly,
providing an energy level that must have matched the electricity that
was in the air in those uncertain times.
From start to finish my eyes were fixed on the screen as the images
of the courtroom and around Chicago played out in front of me. Morgen
has arranged the scenes so the movie flows back and forth between the
events, pulling moments from during and prior to both the convention
and the trial. This method not only keeps the film fresh but gives it
a pace that pushes it forward, holding your interest while upping
your anticipation of what will happen next.
Some of the unbelievable events that came out of the trial are played
out for us. Even though it's animated, it makes one think how close
to a police state the nation was, or is. To see Seale bound and
gagged to his chair in the courtroom (the precedent was actually set
in a case years prior) and to see how certain rights were denied
today we think these things can never happen in our country but they
did and not that long ago.
On the other hand Chicago 10 illustrates how the older generation
could see these youths as loud-mouthed troublemakers. Morgen took
nothing away from Abbie's or Jerry's personalities and a more
conservative viewpoint can point out that they were acting up and
being juvenile merry pranksters. They did wear judicial robes to
court and Abbie was fond of blowing kisses to the jury, but that, my
friends, is for you to decide. I suggest reading more on the lives of
the Chicago 10 or 8 or 7, depending on how you look at the case (if
you count the lawyers as Jerry did, it's 10 along with Seale, who's
was eventually tried separately). So go steal this DVD and draw your
own conclusions.
The DVD has one special feature that is a remix video by a contest
winner that uses scenes from the movie to sum it up in a few minutes.
The rumor mill has it that two sequels are in the works as well as a
live-action film. Should be interesting to see how those pan out.
Don't forget to vote.
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Chicago 10
http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/chicago-10/6229
DVD/APPROX. 99 MINS./2007/US R
By John J. Puccio
FIRST PUBLISHED Aug 24, 2008
The Democrats held their 1968 Presidential Convention in Chicago, and
while hardly anybody remembers the convention itself, people surely
remember the surrounding events. It took place just as controversy
over the Vietnam War was heating to a frenzy, and protesters of all
stripes surrounded the convention hall. The government brought eight
people in particular to trial for disturbing the peace and inciting a
riot, with the ensuing court case making bigger headlines than the
convention ever did.
The eight protesters the government put on trial were Abbie Hoffman,
Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines,
Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale. The movie's writer and director, Brett
Morgen ("On the Ropes," "The Kid Stays in the Picture"), titled his
2007 film version of the events "Chicago 10" because at the time of
the trial Rubin insisted that people include their two lawyers in the
name of the group.
The trial became a circus, the hijinks ironically attracting more
attention to the antiwar movement than the Chicago authorities, the
Democratic Party, or the U.S. Government had ever wanted. In keeping
with the goofy and sometimes frantic spirit of the circumstances that
transpired, Morgen uses not only archival footage but animation to
tell the story. It's not your ordinary documentary.
You can't say Morgen didn't muster the best possible cast for the
picture, either. He assembled the voice talents of Hank Azaria, Nick
Nolte, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Ryan, Roy Scheider, Liev Schreiber, and
Jeffrey Wright, among others, to bring the tale to life. Of course,
it didn't do much good. Paramount opened the film in a limited run,
where it died an inglorious death. Maybe it will pick up a following
on DVD, although, to be honest, despite its storytelling creativity,
it doesn't generate as much inspiration or excitement as I would have expected.
Morgen alternates newsreel shots of the real-life convention
activities with animated scenes of the subsequent trial, and the two
techniques don't always mesh. The polar-opposite styles tend
sometimes to clash jarringly, the one showing the harsh realities of
the situation, the other presenting a much more lightweight, comical
side. Given the serious consequences of the situation, it doesn't
seem quite fair not to have settled down to a single tone. After all,
the events of the film (the protests, especially) were in part
responsible for many of the "Peace Now," "Power to the people," free
speech, question authority, right of assembly, and antigovernment
movements and demonstrations we know today, among much more. At the
very least, the Chicago 10 (or the Chicago 8, or the Chicago 7
without Seale) incidents gave voice to these movements. Here,
however, the animation in particular seems somewhat to trivialize them.
Outside the convention hall, police tear-gassed protesters and beat
them with clubs, while the National Guard stood by as necessary.
Newsman Walter Cronkite called Chicago at that moment a "police
state." At the later trial, the defendants took special pleasure in
tormenting the seventy-five-year-old, conservative judge (whose name,
coincidentally, was Hoffman). At one point, Rubin and defendant
Hoffman appeared in court wearing black judicial robes. When the
judge ordered them to take them off, they were wearing fake police
uniforms underneath. The defendants were clearly trying to mock the
government and point out the hypocrisy of the war, yet somehow the
way the movie depicts these events, it never does much more than
entertain for a minute or two. While I have all the sympathy in the
world for the defendants, the protesters, the marchers, and
everything they stood for, Morgen's film presentation never moved me
as much as it should have.
The animation Morgen employs looks like the computer-rotoscoping
technique used in various other motion pictures, like Richard
Linklater's animated films, and TV commercials. It's apparently
inexpensive and gets the job done. In this case, I suppose Morgen
intended it as a further mocking of the silliness of the trial, but I
didn't find it all that intriguing, just a little off-putting.
Furthermore, as important as the convention protests and the trial
were, the movie doesn't seem to say anything new about them, doesn't
seem to illuminate the characters or events any more than what most
people already know. And if Morgen intended his film for younger
audiences who might not know the circumstances, I'm not sure he gave
them enough inspiration beyond the anticipated slant the case takes
when presenting its facts.
It would take over six years after the events of Chicago before a
majority of the nation saw the light, agreed with the protesters, and
forced the government to end the war. Still, as I say, the movie's
portrayal of the convention events and trial failed to move me as
much as I wanted them to, despite some powerful images. The Chicago
police had guns, clubs, and tear gas. The protesters were unarmed.
You figure it out.
Video:
Because of the nature of the storytelling, the video presentation is
all over the map. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio encompasses
old newsreel footage, new title shots, and a good deal of computer
animation, with the vintage scenes varying from faded color to grainy
black-and-white, the title screens purposely grainy to set the mood,
and the animation looking letter perfect. Colors in the animation are
especially vivid, with excellent definition and virtually no noise or
grain. The rest, as I say, is variable, the director no doubt leaving
the older material just the way he found it.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio does what it can with its mix of old and
new content. The surrounds do a fine job with crowd noises and a few
special effects; the frequency response appears limited to midrange
dialogue; and the dynamic range has virtually no reason to be any
wider than it is, which is pretty narrow. This is a documentary,
after all, not a summer blockbuster.
Extras:
There is not much in the way of extras here. Mainly, we get a
"Chicago 10" Remix Video Contest winner Gina Tararoli's
minute-and-a-half short subject. Beyond that, there are a few
previews at start-up and in the main menu; sixteen scene selections,
which no menu lists anywhere (I had to count the chapter stops by
pressing "Next" on my remote); English as the only spoken language;
and English subtitles.
Parting Thoughts:
I'd say it's close but not quite the big cigar for Brett Morgen's
well intended and in some ways highly original documentary. Well, the
use of animation in "Chicago 10" is different, anyway, whether it
works or not. The movie's overall appeal is little more than
ordinary; where the film should, theoretically, have lighted a fire
under the viewer, it tends often to fizzle. Nevertheless, its subject
matter is too important to miss.
--------
Chicago 10
http://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/spot/article.aspx?articleID=20080822_281_D3_Aiainf460968
By JAMES VANCE World Scene Writer
8/22/2008
With organized and highly vocal protesters including a group called
Recreate 68 already gearing up for next week's Democratic National
Convention in Denver, director Brett Morgen's documentary "Chicago
10" seems particularly timely.
Morgen has assembled what he calls a "hybrid documentary" that
combines stunning archival footage and new animation to recreate the
nightmarish events of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and
its surreal aftermath. Whether you remember those days vividly, or
they were years before your time, Morgen's film is well worth your attention.
The issue 40 years ago, of course, was the Vietnam War, and a lot of
vaguely allied groups of objectors to that conflict had agreed to
converge on Chicago to make their voices heard at a time when cameras
and microphones would be everywhere. The result was a bloody
confrontation, which the subsequent Walker Commission would describe
as a "police riot" enacted on live television, with young Americans
bludgeoned and gassed while the world was watching.
The news footage of the first days, depicting the scruffy hordes
acting out in the park like obnoxious adolescents, is alternately
amusing and frustrating. Cocky and exuberant, they climb statues and
proclaim their belief in the power of the people with heartbreakingly
naïve conviction. As tensions mount between the protesters and the
authorities, you can see a dawning realization among some that they
may have placed themselves in real danger but for most, turning back
would be unthinkable.
In the moments leading up to the famous confrontation in the streets,
one young protester looks out across the sea of armed men standing
between him and the site of the convention and laughs.
"Isn't it wonderful," he says, "to be in a free country where we can
speak in front of bayonets?"
An hour later, nobody's laughing. Billy clubs are splitting young
people's skulls, bleeding protesters are being dragged into paddy
wagons, a woman calls out, "These are just kids!" as teargas is
launched, and downtown Chicago becomes a war zone.
On trial
Morgen makes no pretense of laying out a balanced or objective look
at the events. His sympathies lie squarely with the Yippies, hippies,
Black Panthers and unaffiliated concerned citizens who descended on
Chicago to demand an end to what they considered an immoral and pointless war.
As compelling as that material is, the trial that followed provides
the film's most memorable segments. Here, and in other portions of
the story that have not been preserved on film, Morgen has chosen to
present the action via animation, with actors providing the voices.
It's a risky approach, but it works surprisingly well. Using the
trial transcript as their script, a gifted cast that includes Hank
Azaria (as gleeful provocateur Abbie Hoffman), Mark Ruffalo (as Jerry
Rubin), Jeffrey Wright (as Bobby Seale) and Roy Scheider, in one of
his final performances (as Judge Julius Hoffman), bring the events to
vivid life.
Charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot, the eight defendants
are as rebellious and outspoken in the courtroom as on the streets.
While they and their lawyers wrack up contempt charges and drive the
judge to near-apoplexy, the court and the prosecutors behave even
more outrageously, turning the proceedings into the biggest legal
circus since the Scopes Monkey Trial.
It's hard to argue with the film's thesis that, in 1968, the
government tried to silence dissidents by treating them as criminals
and traitors.
As a new chorus of dissenting voices prepares to be heard in Denver,
we could all do with a reminder of how badly that plan played out for
all involved.
SCREENING
Maynard Ungerman, a Tulsa attorney who was involved in the 1968
Democratic Convention in Chicago, will speak and answer questions
following the 7 p.m. Friday screening of "Chicago 10."
The effect
The animation itself may not be to everyone's taste; though utilizing
the arguably more sophisticated process of motion capture, the effect
is about the same as the rotoscoping used over 30 years ago by Ralph
Bakshi or the makers of "Heavy Metal."
The effect of having such a serious subject occasionally reduced to
an unattractive Saturday morning cartoon is a little jarring at
times. Fortunately, the power of the material is enough to overcome
most of these moments.
"Chicago 10"
Stars:
Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Hank Azaria
Theater:
Circle Cinema
Running time:
one hour, 50 minutes
Rated:
R (language and brief sexual images)
Quality:
***(on a scale of zero to four stars)
--
James Vance 581-8372
james.vance@tulsaworld.com
--------
Under protest
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080825-9999-1c25chicago.html
'Chicago 10' re-creates fallout from '68 convention
By John Wilkens
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 25, 2008
Political conventions like the Democratic one in Denver this week are
among the most stage-managed "news" events on the planet. Suspense
takes a holiday.
What happens outside can't always be so carefully scripted, though.
With the economy struggling and the nation at war, thousands of
protesters are expected in Denver. Police have set up a warehouse for
processing arrestees and topped the makeshift cells with barbed wire.
One of the groups helping to coordinate demonstrations is called
"Recreate 68." The 68 refers to 1968, to maybe the most notorious
convention ever, when police clashed with anti-war protesters on the
streets of Chicago.
As it turns out, re-creating '68 has already been done, and done
well, in the documentary "Chicago 10." It opened in theaters last
March and is scheduled for release on DVD tomorrow.
The film, an edgy mix of archive footage and animation, explores the
origins of the 1968 riots and reintroduces us to a colorful cast of
characters: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale.
All four were among the eight people later charged with inciting the
riots. Their jaw-dropping circus of a trial – Seale was bound and
gagged, Hoffman offered to hook the judge up with an LSD dealer –
raised profound constitutional questions that resonate today, four
decades later.
"It's an important piece of history, and the documentary does a
pretty good job of reflecting what happened back then," Seale said in
a recent phone interview.
Seale, 71, wasn't supposed to be in Chicago that summer. The
co-founder of the Black Panthers had never met Hoffman, Rubin and the
other protest organizers. But when Eldridge Cleaver, another Panther
leader and author of "Soul on Ice," couldn't make it, they invited Seale.
He gave a couple of speeches, got on a plane and left town before
most of the mayhem happened – the "Kill the Pigs" chants and the tear
gas and the clubbings. Weeks later, when Seale was in Scandinavia on
a speaking tour, he was indicted for conspiracy.
"I was shocked and surprised," he said. "Then again, those of us in
the movement expected one day that the powers-that-be would either
arrest us or kill us."
Seale said he grew up "hating bullies," and when he got to court he
felt bullied. He wanted to act as his own lawyer, but the judge
wouldn't let him, and their sparring provides some of the film's most
riveting moments.
"Young man," the judge, Julius Hoffman, admonished at one point.
"Old man," Seale shot back.
Eventually the judge ruled that Seale was disrupting "the orderly
administration of justice" and ordered him shackled. Bailiffs chained
him to a metal chair. You watch it happen in the film and wonder,
"What country is this?"
Seale refused to be silenced. "I remembered that a person pulling at
his chains is acting in the manner of a free person, so that's what I
did," he recalled. He made such a racket, metal on metal, that
bailiffs switched him to leather straps and a wooden chair the next day.
A defense attorney referred to the getup as "medieval torture" and
asked the judge to end it. The judge did so by severing Seale from
the other defendants, convicting him of contempt and sentencing him
to four years in jail. He served almost two before he was released.
No cameras were allowed in the courtroom during the trial, so in the
documentary, the proceedings are re-created through animation. It's
jarring at first, but dialogue straight from the trial transcripts
adds authenticity. As the film proceeds, it rises above being cartoonish.
Actor Jeffrey Wright provided the voice for Seale, who admitted he
wasn't too happy about having a stand-in. He's always spoken up for
himself (at one point even selling his own barbecue cookbook, but
that's another story) and would have preferred to do so here, he said.
"I met the director (Brett Morgen) and told him, 'I should have been
consulted on this film because I know my stuff,' " Seale said. "He
told me he expected me to be an old man with a shaky voice, and then
he heard me and he said, 'My God, it's like talking to a 19-year-old!' "
Seale also might have been able to set Morgen straight on the title.
For 40 years the defendants have been known collectively as either
the Chicago 7 or the Chicago 8 (if Seale is included). The filmmakers
added defense lawyers William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass to come
up with the Chicago 10, which feels revisionist and silly.
The story doesn't need that kind of tweaking. It's already potent
stuff, a window into one of the most tumultuous, polarizing periods
in recent American history. Generations and cultures were clashing.
Revolution was in the air.
"Chicago 10" captures a lot of the fury (almost inevitably, the
soundtrack features songs by Rage Against the Machine), and it makes
you understand that something important hung in the balance, on the
streets and in the courtroom.
To his credit, Morgen does all this without making Seale and the
others into innocent victims. They knew what they were doing. There's
a fascinating scene of Abbie Hoffman, a master manipulator, watching
himself being interviewed on television and nodding in approval. In a
lot of ways, they got exactly what they wanted – to be heard, and to
be remembered.
"There will always be a place in this country for people who feel a
need to protest," Seale said. "The First Amendment gives us that
right. I never stopped speaking. I speak to this day."
"Chicago 10" speaks, too. It's worth watching.
.
