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The Trial of the Chicago 7

Review

Publications

Complete Citation

Overview

Abstract

  • The trial of the Chicago Seven on charges of conspiracy and intent to incite a riot lasted nearly five months, from September 24, 1969, to February 18, 1970, in Chicago's U.S. District Court. The Trial of the Chicago 7, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, lasts just two hours (not counting the final credits). Historians acknowledge that feature-length fictional films must inevitably take shortcuts and condense actual events-especially when so complicated and messy as was this highly controversial trial. However, even with those allowances, this film misses many opportunities to stick to facts that might have been even more illuminating in 2020, when political protests, police brutality, and racial injustice were front-page news, just as they were in 1968 and 1969.

Publication Date

  • 2021

Authors