In Chicago 10, filmmaker Brett Morgan (The Kid Stays in the Picture) attempts to tell the story of the events that led up to the protests at the 1968 democratic convention in Chicago and the trial that followed. The group was referred to as the as the “Chicago 7” at the time, but group member Jerry Rubin said, “Anyone who calls us the Chicago Seven is a racist, because you’re discrediting Bobby Seale. You can call us the Chicago Eight, but really we’re the Chicago Ten, because our two lawyers went down with us.”
Morgen uses news footage and interviews to tell the story of the Yippies attempts to get the necessary permits to sleep in the park during the convention, the convention itself and the riots. Intercut with this material are re-creations of the trial a year later, with the script based on the actual court transcripts and the action provided by animation. Morgen’s arrogance with Chicago 10–mixing heady documentary footage with animation –isn’t the films main drawback. In fact, by cutting away from the brutal scenes of reality, Morgen opens the door to some interesting ideas to get people more interested in the plight of the Chicago 10 and documentary filmmaking as a genre. Instead, the cartoon atmosphere of the film is so overblown, that any originality is quickly overtaken by hyperbole.
While the voice talent is generally excellent and perfectly cast (Hank Azaria, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Wright, and Dylan Baker all bring talent and depth to their roles), it’s occasionally distracting as well (especially Nick Nolte, whose distinctive snarl as the tough prosecutor is so recognizable that it pulls you right out of the action). But the film’s fatal flaw is its amateurish motion-capture animation. The lawyer, judge, and defendants all look like old Atari animations–inexpressive, with faces unable to register emotion. In this CGI age, I think most film goers have come to expect something more professional.
Amateurish animation aside, Chicago 10 has a story to tell. 1968 was a time when some young people were so passionate about their beliefs and the need to stop the war in Vietnam that they were willing to stand up to the government to do it. More importantly, some youth in America still believed they had the power to change government policy through protest. Chicago 10 provides a nice look back at a tumultuous event that helped change the course of American politics forty years ago.
The DVD is presented in widescreen format. The audio is in Dolby Digital Surround Sound 5.1. There are also English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The only real extra on this DVD is the entry by the Chicago 10 Remix Video contest winner, Gine Telaroli. This is basically just a redo of the Chicago 10 trailer.
