The infamous Chicago 8 trial that took place in 1968 and 1969 remains one of the most memorable farces in the history of American justice. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and six others were charged with conspriracy to organize a riot during the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. Brett Morgan's doc, Chicago 10, traces the protests and police brutality that shook the nation and recreates the trial using animation and actors' voices to tell the riveting story.
Chicago 10
It begins with the convergence of MOBE and the Yippies - two groups that opposed the Vietnam War and were determined to make a big splash outside the convention. Thousands of protesters arrived in Chicago that August with flowers in their hair and joints in their pockets. However, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley had plans of his own, dispatching helmeted goon squads with batons and bayonets wherever the peaceniks congregated - outside the Hilton hotel, inside Grant Park or during marches that paraded through the city.
The gruesome footage peaks with beatings and arrests. Many of the protestors were bloodied. It looks like the South during the Civil Rights protests.
Several months later, Hoffman, Rubin, Dave Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, Bobby Seale, John Froines and Lee Weiner were indicted. Like the protests they organized, the Chicago 8 defendents turned the trial into guerrilla theater with a touch of comedy that lightened the heavy nature of the charges. Judge Julius Hoffman (voiced by Roy Scheider) represents the out-of-touch establishment and attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass do their best to unravel the government's case. Still, they were found guilty until the charges were overturned a year later.
One of key Yippie organizers who didn't get indicted, Paul Krassner, appears in the film in footage as well as in several animated sequences. He tells CelebStoner: "Stew Albert and I were among the unindicted co-conspirators, and Bill Kunstler told us it was because the prosecution was afraid we'd use a First Amendment defense."
Krassner and Albert were Yippie co-founders (Krassner is credited with coining the group's name). Krassner published The Realist at the time.
In his HuffPo column about Chicago 10, Krassner points out several scenes that were omitted from the movie. One is when he dosed during the trial:
"I decide to take a tab of LSD at lunch before testifying. I’ve learned that if I drop acid with a big meal, it always makes me vomit. That way, I don’t have to memorize all those dates and places. And it’ll be my theatrical statement on the injustice of the trial. Abbie was furious...
"Although Brett 'loved, loved, loved' the scenes I wrote, the backers objected to the use of LSD, fearful of diverting attention from the main focus of the film. I was disappointed, if only for the sake of countercultural history. The CIA originally envisioned employing LSD as a means of control; instead, for millions of young people, acid served as a vehicle to explore their own inner space, deprogramming themselves from mainstream culture and living their alternative. The CIA's scenario had backfired. Anyway, my suggestion - instead of referring to it as acid, Abbie could yell, 'Hey, this is powerful fuckin' aspirin' - was rejected."
Chicago 10 is currently playing at 11 theaters in New York, Illinois, California and Massachusetts, and expands to nine more on March 14. Click here to see the theaters.
Note: There are several scenes depicting marijuana use in the movie.
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