The characters in the film are voiced by current and past Hollywood notables such as Hank Azaria, Nick Nolte, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber and Roy Scheider. The film revolves around the Chicago 7 or 8 (depending on who is speaking of them), and how two groups of anti-war protestors, the Yippies, led by Abbie Hoffman (voiced by Hank Azaria), and M.O.B.E. (National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam), led by Rennie Davis, organized a huge protest in the midst of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968 and were later tried in a kangaroo court for their involvement. Also caught up in the conspiracy charges, either acting as attorneys or defendants, were Jerry Rubin (voiced by Mark Ruffalo), David Dellinger (voiced by Dylan Baker), Tom Hayden, John Froines, William Kunstler (voiced by Liev Schreiber), Lee Weiner and Leonard Weinglass. All served jail time for their cause.
Although these events were before my time, it's hard to explain the well of emotion this movie creates when you see American citizens peacefully protesting something they truly believed in being attacked with tear gas and bayonets by police officers (ok, the groups' leaders weren't peaceful, but the majority of those who joined in were). Clearly, this movie was created not just to bring to light these events and to remind people, but also as an anti-war wink at our current climate and ongoing war. Releasing it now, with the upcoming election looming, was also part of the plan.
While it might be easy to dismiss the events portrayed in the film as inciteful because they are an animated account of what happened, it's hard to make light of the actual video of people being clubbed in the mayhem and hosed down like animals. While I certainly understand the police force needing to maintain order, and no doubt, a number of these protestors were clearly trying to rile the police, some were just kids standing behind a cause they supported, or simply being stupid as kids can sometimes be, and they got caught up in the violence. However, that being said, the ringleaders were definitely not kids just caught up in something. They had a purpose and a plan and did whatever it took to bring it to fruition. You can use your own judgment to decide whether what they did was positive or negative.
The court proceedings were especially interesting as the filmmakers used the actual court transcripts to recreate what happened. Clearly, these guys were railroaded once they were brought to court. Bobby Seale (Black Panthers) was obviously very adversarial and acted as his own attorney, but he was barely allowed to speak in his own defense. Especially disturbing was the scene where Seale (voiced by Jeffrey Wright) was brought back into the courtroom after having been removed for an outburst, tied to a chair and gagged, then later strapped with leather bindings and double gagged. These things actually happened in America. In a court of law. Wow.
Regardless of your stance towards the Vietnam War or the war we are currently embroiled in, what happened in Chicago in 1968 is a piece of American history. Perhaps one which some people would rather forget, but if we forget the past, then the future is doomed. I think this is the message that the filmmakers hoped to convey. Chicago 10 may not be something to watch over and over, but it is definitely worth seeing.
