Chicago 10 Stirs Up Again

By Broadside Staff Writer Ross Bonaime

In the new film Chicago 10, director Brett Morgen, who also directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and On the Ropes, creates a unique documentary combining animation, archive footage and a narrative story that delivers a refreshing view of the late ‘60s.

Chicago 10 takes an exceptional look at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill., the protests that happened outside the convention and the subsequent trial that occurred the following year. The film focuses on the leaders of the protests, known as the Yippies. Led by anti-war visionaries, such as Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, what was to be a peaceful protest became an epic clash between the protestors and the police of Chicago. The trial that followed was an even bigger spectacle, as the courtroom became a circus when the Yippies faced off against the judge and the entire judicial system.

Part of what makes the movie unique is its use of the original historical trial’s court transcripts as the script for the film and the animations of the people involved, which are voiced by an array of talented actors. Some of the actors include Hank Azaria of Along Came Polly and TV's The Simpsons, Mark Ruffalo of Zodiac and Collateral, Jeffrey Wright of Syriana and Lady In the Water and Liev Schreiber of The Manchurian Candidate. The late Roy Scheider of Jaws and The French Connection is outstanding as Judge Julius Hoffman, who turned the case, known as the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, into a free-for-all debacle.

While the voice acting is impeccable and adds significantly to the various types of animation, viewers might remove themselves from the story by spending too much time trying to keep up with which actor is playing who in the film. The animation sequences work most effectively when the actual voices of the people in the trial and the story are used from previous recordings. Surprisingly, the animations don’t take anything away from the seriousness and importance of the trials. Rather, they show a dramatic recreation of the events that occurred in an appealing way. The recordings, combined with the different types of animation, add a level of depth that is rarely seen in documentaries.

The music plays a huge part, from the very beginning all the way to the end credits, and keeps the film moving along smoothly. The soundtrack to Chicago 10 blends a combination of both the new and the old to create the soundtrack for a revolution. Bands like Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys and Eminem bring a modern sound with songs that represent the feelings evoked by the film. Older bands like Black Sabbath and The Clash bring along the soundtrack of the times that the protests were taking place.

The events of what happened at the Democratic National Convention and the court case that followed the year after feature some pretty heavy topics, yet Morgen handles the topic with grace and with a well-conceived plan that blends ideas, styles and mindsets. Overall, he puts together a beautiful, entertaining and moving documentary that is one of the year's best. Chicago 10 will be in theaters Feb. 29.