Chicago 10 is that nearly perfect marriage of style -- edgy, different -- to documentary subject: 1968, that seminal year so celebrated in 2008 for changing the America that came after it.
Comment
07/17/08
Chicago 10 (2008)
76 %
Reviews Counted: 68 Fresh: 52 Rotten:16 Average Rating: 6.6/10
Consensus:
Brett Morgan's half-animated, half-documentary film is an arresting, sometimes visionary portrait of the historic and chaotic trial.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Synopsis: Brett Morgen follows up his dazzling THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE with another daring, inventive work of nonfiction. CHICAGO 10 tells the raucous story of the trial that resulted after the tumultuous Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. During the convention, a group of Yippies and... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Starring: Hank Azaria, Dylan Baker, Nick Nolte, Mark Ruffalo, Roy Scheider
Director: Brett Morgen
Screenwriter: Brett Morgen
Producer: Brett Morgen, Graydon Carter
Composer: Jeff Danna
Screenwriter: Brett Morgen
Producer: Brett Morgen, Graydon Carter
Composer: Jeff Danna
Reviews
The raw, gritty, real stock footage just doesn't match with the spoof-like quality of the animated trial.
06/18/08
Short on nuance but long on passion, Chicago 10 recreates the gradual boil-over from peaceful gathering to chaos by augmenting ample, close-range footage with the kind of sonic boom that seldom accompanies political documentaries.
06/09/08
Indirectly scolds today's meek populace for letting its war-minded government rage unchecked.
05/22/08
Chicago 10 brandishes enough sickening reality (Chicago police clubbing protestors, etc.) to make the audience gasp with astonishment.
04/11/08
The Chicago riots may have been our parents' history, but this is not our parents' documentary.
04/11/08
Despite the number in its title, this odd but sometimes entertaining documentary/docudrama hybrid looks at seven defendants who were accused of organizing the protests and orchestrating the resulting mayhem.
04/10/08
A documentary that somehow manages to capture the anarchic spirit of those topsy-turvy times without devolving into anarchy itself.
04/04/08
A vibrant, unconventional documentary about the conspiracy trial of the so-called inciters of the riots that occurred during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
04/04/08
It's hard not to think of the many other protestors, detainees, and U.S. citizens whose rights are being stifled as we speak.
03/21/08
The anachronistic music cues and refreshing lack of hippie-dippie reminiscence make it a movie for right now -- a funny, fiendishly entertaining salute to dissent in all its forms.
03/17/08
The material is incredibly compelling -- though trust me, it was even more compelling (and scary) as it was happening.
03/14/08
History is on the side of the protesters, who were right to shout about government corruption and the Vietnam War, so a contemporary film needs to more than just take their side.
03/14/08
If nothing else, it's a welcomed alternative to the more straightforward and serious film that Spielberg is likely to deliver.
03/14/08
Chicago 10 is a movie for parents and grandparents to take their older children and grandchildren. It's worth a field trip for high school and college American history classes.
03/14/08
Morgen recaptures the unreal air of the whole chapter; you can imagine young audiences understanding, perhaps for the first time, what the fuss was about.
03/14/08
The animation may be 3-D, but only in live-action snippets like this does Chicago 10 become multidimensional.
03/14/08
Given the filmmaker's privileged perspective of hindsight, to notconsider the real-world repercussions of their theater, to not connect the dots between 1968 and 2008 is a squandered opportunity.
03/14/08
Chicago 10 is a timely reminder that dissident youth once were viewed by the government as enemies of the state. Morgan's collection of these images forces us to keep watching, and recognize this as part of our very recent history.
03/13/08
If you accept the premise that it's a multimedia happening rather than a history lesson, the half-documentary, half-cartoon Chicago 10 is a smash of a mash-up. Call it 1968, the Remix.
03/13/08
Related Forums
(2008 release/docu-drama/Rated R)-Brett Morgen's CHICAGO 10 opens on February 29th!!!
by: ReelReviewer.com 2/29
by: ReelReviewer.com 2/29
Was the message effective?
by: Muddywatterswoman 8/6/07
by: Muddywatterswoman 8/6/07
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