Film review: The trial of the Chicago Seven

There is a reason why so much care must be given to portrayals of historical events. A poor portrayal happens when the history is kept one sided, tamed or otherwise blunted. Claws removed, it has all the power of a wet tea towel and just as appealing.

You can rest easy, knowing this film, the latest by the great Aaron Sorkin, has the power of a hurricane, volcano and a hail storm combined and like natural disasters, will have you breathless, tense and on edge until the crew and cast credits roll. 

In this film, everything is turned up to eleven. The real life drama is compelling on its own but Mr Sorkin's steady hand on the script and as director - means that every angle of this story is covered. Pure perfection.

It has been said before, he is a master of the political drama and here he proves it in spades.

As I said, portrayals of historical events need to be carefully handled. It's not enough to merely show what happened, editing plays a huge part in keeping the whole thing together. Hearty thanks must go to Alan Baumgarten - too often than not, ego will get in the way of what should be kept and what is cut. And it's clear that he has done sterling work here. Egos have been shown the door and the movie is the better for it.

Each layer and each person is carefully represented. It's clear that the due diligence has been done to ensure that there are just beautifully handled performances from all the actors in this film. When farce and obvious bias is shown, it is all too easy to fall into caricature and Disney villains. Mr Sorkin and his team work hard to make sure that this doesn't happen. The facts and the people are left to speak for themselves and the end result is staggering. 

It feels like a horror film and it should scare you to tears. The history shown here in this film is eerily reminiscent of what we're seeing now. 

This portrayal is shown in flashbacks, perfectly in sync with the events in the court room. The aforementioned farce is in full force by the judge (Frank Langella is in a league of his own in this role - closely followed by everyone else in the cast) taking his cues from those above him.

Mr Sorkin has collected the best of the best for his film and it is warranted because what keeps this moving forward is the people. And the ideas that brought everyone together and into sharp focus. And it is the ideas that stick with you long after the final credits roll. 

I had high hopes for this film and they were surpassed in every single way. My only hope is that due credits are given to everybody involved in this picture - most likely foreign awards. Someone needs to tell the Baftas and the AACTA awards, this one will do a clean sweep of both.