A documentary look at the violence against protestors outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the subsequent trial of the protest leaders.

CRITIQUE

Chicago 10 is an odd documentary about the trial of protest leaders following the police violence outside the 1968 Democratic Convention, which blends archival footage with animated recreations of the courtroom scenes.  It’s called Chicago 10 (instead of the usual “Chicago 8” or “Chicago 7” that was generally used to refer to the defendants before and after Bobby Seale’s case was severed) apparently because the filmmakers are counting the defendants’ two lawyers as part of the group, though that only occurred to me afterward when I counted the heads on the DVD box.

The result is sort of a mixed bag.  The archival footage is generally fascinating, capturing the four days of protests in a loose, you-are-there fashion, including speeches by people like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Tom Hayden, who would later go on to be among the defendants.  Abbie Hoffman is a lively character whenever he appears onscreen, and when the police get violent it is vividly captured.

Unfortunately, the real thrust of the movie seems to be to portray what went on in the trial.  Since there apparently wasn’t quite enough of interest to do this as a dramatic feature, instead voiceover actors (including Nick Nolte, Hank Azaria, Live Shreiber and Roy Scheider) try to recreate the characters from the court transcripts, while the action is recreate with animation.

But the animation (apparently done through the rotoscope process) really isn’t very good, while the characters tend to be more like caricatures of themselves, particularly Abbie Hoffman (voiced by Azaria) and the cantankerous Judge Hoffman, voiced by Scheider.  Ultimately, the movie only really comes to life when it feels more like a traditional documentary, and it would have worked better had it really explored what happened deeper, including interviews with the surviving defendants looking back.  But not only do we not get that here, but there isn’t even any narration filling in the blanks or giving some of the events context.

The result has value as history, and it is never boring, but ultimately one comes away feeling that this is rich material that has only been semi-explored.

THE VIDEO

Chicago 10 is presented in widescreen, enhanced for 16x9 TVs.  The picture quality was generally good given the shaky quality of some of the archival footage, while the animation is crisp despite its quality.

THE AUDIO

Chicago 10 is presented in English 5.1 and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

The only extra is the Chicago 10 Remix Video Contest Winner, apparently the result of an online contest in which people were given footage from the film to edit into what is essentially a trailer; the result is underwhelming.

FINAL THOUGHT

Interesting as history, though the animation is a mixed bag.