Chicago Ten is a mix of actual film and animated recreations using the transcripts of the trial of Chicago Ten (voiced by actors)that happened in the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic convention in ... Chicago. What happened was that The Yippies and anti-war groups showed up to protest and they locked horns with Mayor Daley and his machine who were looking for a fight. Everyone knew it was going to happen and when the violence occurred there were arrests that set in motion the trial that is the subject of the film. The film itself is quite good. The animation puts us in the court room allows the words of everyone involved to hang themselves. To my eyes the establishment come off looking foolish and in many ways the Yippies do too (clearly they saw it all a a big game). It was a necessary evil in away but I really wish that there had been a better bunch of heroes.
On a personal note, In a weird way the film left a bad taste in my mouth, not because it was a bad film, rather because I saw this right after seeing Chris Marker's Grin Without a Cat. Marker's film is a look at political protest in the world in the 1960's and 1970's and how the stakes were so much higher in say Prague where the Russians were coming to into crush the rebellion or in other places where people were dying for their beliefs. Seeing the antics of people like Abby Hoffman made me wonder how seriously the protesters were taking it.
My own reflections on history aside, this is a very good film and should be seen by anyone who wants to know what happened in Chicago in 1968.
On a personal note, In a weird way the film left a bad taste in my mouth, not because it was a bad film, rather because I saw this right after seeing Chris Marker's Grin Without a Cat. Marker's film is a look at political protest in the world in the 1960's and 1970's and how the stakes were so much higher in say Prague where the Russians were coming to into crush the rebellion or in other places where people were dying for their beliefs. Seeing the antics of people like Abby Hoffman made me wonder how seriously the protesters were taking it.
My own reflections on history aside, this is a very good film and should be seen by anyone who wants to know what happened in Chicago in 1968.