Alan Sorkin, the "Golden Hollywood Screenwriter", is not only known for his screenwriting techniques, but his political stance as a liberal has also been very prominent in many of his previous works, so some people say that he is one of Hollywood's left-wing intellectuals. a representative image. So the release of "The Trial of the Chicago Seven" directed by Suo Jinshou before this year's general election is by no means a coincidence of literary nostalgia.
The film is based on the infamous trial following the 1968 "Chicago Riots." When seven anti-Vietnam War political activists from various factions were charged with rioting charges, they fought in court and in court, culminating in a court acquittal four years later, and the Seven Gentlemen won a legal and moral victory.
The film restores the front and behind the scenes of this historic trial, especially exposing the court (representative of the conservative establishment) to suppress and unfairly treat the Seven Gentlemen. The behind-the-scenes scenes also depict the conflict between the ideologies represented by these seven people. For example, there are Black Panthers who engage in violent movements, idealistic students, hippies with long hair and shawls, and more mature leftist go-getters—these people are all different, but they have one thing in common: they Both were against the Vietnam War, and both were against the ultra-conservative establishment.
So the more than two hours of "The Trial of the Chicago Seven" is a very simple game from a moral standpoint: the anti-war progressive forces from the people defeat the conservative and reactionary establishment. As an audience, you don't need to think, you just need to be enthusiastic.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with watching a movie with blood, but if this simple position of good and evil is directly applied to real politics, it would be too naive. For example, there have been many mass movements on the streets of the United States in 2020, and there are also many violent tendencies. Do you say that they are all "progressive forces" like the "Chicago Seven"? Conservatives and even Trump are shouting "law and order", are you saying they are all the evil establishment symbolized by the judge who tried the Chicago Seven?
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of turbulent social conflicts and changes, and in 2020, political conflicts and social divisions have been further intensified by Trump and the epidemic. The conflict is still the same, but the social contradiction as the motivation has been completely different, and it is not easy to "stand" in terms of morality and ideology.
So if Sorkin wants to use an old case from fifty years ago to have an impact on real politics, I think this intention is simple, one-sided or even narrow-minded, and it is an oversimplification of politics.
Because the world is already very complex, and his films are still that simple.
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