To help keep track of all these different players, here’s a guide to the major figures in Sorkin’s film: For all of the poetry inherent in the revolutionaries’ battle with a system that seeks to silence them, Sorkin manages to add his own flourishes, including a rousing ending that’s far more symbolic than accurate.
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In an introduction to The Trial of the Chicago 7: The Official Transcript, Sorkin says that his screenplay is “very different” from the words of the trial, which is an accurate summation of his approach to a story that took place from September 1969 to February 1970. Whether it was the spectacle created by media-savvy jokester Abbie Hoffman or the firm outrage expressed by pacifist David Dellinger, each reactionary played a particular part in this all-American farce, which has recently been made into a courtroom epic by writer-director Aaron Sorkin. The trial that ensued became a famous circus of the American court system, in which hippies, yippies, and more squared off against the immense biases of a judge who wanted them to lose, all the while racking up numerous contempt charges for a wide range of disruptive behaviors. It didn’t matter that the police were documented committing violent acts during what began as peaceful protests this group was to be made an example. government, accused of crossing state lines to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The whole world was watching when a group of Vietnam War protesters was put on trial by the U.S. Photo-Illustration: Niko Tavernise/Netflix
Aaron Sorkin’s hippies, yippies, prosecutors, protesters, undercover cops, and more, explained.