The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) - based on true events

[crazed 9.6]

As I was going thru some documentary films that are seen in the VOD selections and which I been viewing lately, and I came across this one.
Wow !

The movie which is based on a true story sure caught my attention right from the opening.
Seems the verdict was set before it ever saw a court room. When it did see a court room, the judge made sure it was seen only one way.

This is about the protests against the Vietnam war, peaceful protests.
The police nor the Judge saw it that way thou.
The Judge in fact may have been somewhat ummmm... bias and if things were like they showed in this movie then well that Judge needed a vacation
That defending lawyer had his job cut out hard for him.

But what was the truth ?


I thought it was a documentary when I first saw it listed, but in fact it is a movie (based on true events) by writer/directer Aaron Sorkin
Aaron also wrote and directed 'Molly's Game' and has written screenplays for others , such as Moneyball, Social Network, Charlie Wilson's War, all based on true events.


In October 2020, several news outlets ran articles detailing some of the ways that this movie's plot differed from the true history of the trial.
Most of the differences did not change anything important, mainly done for the 'Hollywood' effect.

Three things did stand out thou

-The first thing was Judge Hoffman's treatment of Bobby Seale is true, and in fact it was worse than what is depicted in the movie.
During the real trial, Seale was gagged and chained as shown, but the film implies that this only happened once for a short time, when in fact Seale was bound and gagged from October 29, 1969, and every day he appeared in court, until his trial was severed into a separate trial on November 5, 1969.

-The second thing was the death or murder of Seale's associate/friend Fred Hampton, came after these events and not during.

-And a third thing was that not only the 5000 plus names of American and Allied soldiers that died during the length of the trial which one of the defendants kept track of, but he also knew and named every of the N.Vietnam soldiers who had died as well.


Very intriguing movie, for sure !



Where are they now ?

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/10/10097213/where-are-the-chicago-7-now