The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) is about the case brought after the demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic convention. Seven men, from separate organisations and barely acquainted, are charged with incitement to riot. Among them are a group who wear ties and behave institutionally, a group of hippies, and the leader of a pacifist organisation. They have nothing in common and cannot even build a defence together. What the film is best at is that internal conflict. The argument between those who want to respect the court and win and those who want to expose the court itself is more interesting than the case. One defendant, Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, had been included by mistake; his lawyer was in surgery and he wanted to represent himself. When the judge refused he kept objecting. The judge ordered him bound and gagged in the courtroom. That actually happened and the film shows it as it was. Sorkin wrote and directed. The screenplay dates from 2007, when Spielberg was to direct; the writers' strike and the budget left it waiting thirteen years. The dialogue moves at Sorkin's usual speed, and in places that erodes the historical record; the film compresses several events and the closing speech did not happen. Mark Rylance and Sacha Baron Cohen are in the cast. It runs 129 minutes. Good for: courtroom drama, the sixties, and Sorkin dialogue. Less good for: the film takes a side and alters some events for dramatic effect.