The Democratic Party Convention in 1968 took place in Chicago. It was the height of the Vietnam War, President Johnson had increased the number of soldiers in the war, and instituted an increase of the draft. Every day, innocent soldiers died in Vietnam. Back home, many activists were incensed and called for demonstrations at the Democratic convention. As history knows, those demonstrations turned violent and bloody.
After Nixon’s election in 1968, the Justice Department of the new administration wanted a poster trial, and appointed a reluctant young prosecutor named Richard Schultz to come after who became known as the Chicago 7: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. They were all charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago. Bobby Seale, an eighth man, and a member of the Black Panthers, who was not involved, was also charged in the trial and was forced to participate without legal representation. His trial was eventually pronounced a mistrial.
The trial was a 6-month-long spectacle, accentuated by antics of some of the defendants who were not shy about displaying their civil disobedience.
Abbie Hoffman is played by Sacha Baron Cohen, the “Borat” guy, and I really didn’t recognize him until I checked the cast later. He does not have any noticeable accent and while Abbie’s role is somewhat comic, there is nothing comical about this performance. Cohen does a great job playing Abbie Hoffman.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is one of the best movies I have watched all year. It features the corruption of the government, particularly the Justice Department, under a president with autocratic tendencies (Nixon) and his loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell. Yes, “the” John Mitchell who was later convicted and went to federal prison for his role in the Watergate affair.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is as relevant a movie today in 2020, as it would have been back in 1970.
History does seem to repeat itself.
