On this episode of the Deep Focus Podcast, my guest is writer/director Aaron Sorkin known for writing “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” “A Few Good Men,” “The West Wing,” and dozens of more screenwriting classics. The legendary screenwriter has shifted his focus to directing and returns with his second feature-length film following “Molly’s Game,” the politically charged and now-hyper-relevant “The Trial of The Chicago 7,” which is now on Netflix. The film features a huge ensemble cast (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Sacha Baron Cohen Daniel Flaherty Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eddie Redmayne, among the names). It centers on the group of anti–Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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Originally a Steven Spielberg project, nine-some years in the making, the filmmaker eventually gave Sorkin his blessing to make the movie after seeing the accomplished “Molly’s Game” with Jessica Chastain. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year and the civil unrest, and even the recent Capitol insurrection, “The Trial Of The Chicago 7,” couldn’t be more relevant today. It features an all-star cast and captures this moment of anger, injustice, civil uprising, and protest.
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“We thought it was plenty relevant when we were making it last winter,” Sorkin said. “Donald Trump was having rallies where he was getting nostalgic about the good ol’ days when “we’d get that guy out on a stretcher” and beat the crap out of him and punch him in the face. We didn’t need the film to get more relevant.”
Then George Floyd was murdered last summer in a horrible police choking aggression. Breonna Taylor was killed in her sleep by white plainclothes police officers. The Black Lives Matter protests erupted.
“I would watch CNN and think if you just degraded the color a little bit, it would look exactly like the footage we used from 1968.”
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The movie is also germane in how it echoes the fragmentation of the Democratic party—the so-called, “radical left,” and the more conservative centrists. “How the intermural struggle on the left is reflected, between the left and the further left,” Sorkin explained, and as represented by Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), the defacto “radical left” member of the Chicago 7 and Tom Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), more of a Democratic centrist who would go on to become a member of the California Senate in the 90s and early aughts. The two men definitely encapsulate the state of the Democratic party today, and now, one would have supported Bernie Sanders, and one would have voted for Joe Biden if the film were set now. “Absolutely,” Sorkin agreed. “One would be saying, ‘defund the police,’ and the other would be saying, ‘can you rebrand that please?’ I know what you’re talking about, but to everyone else, that sounds like you’re talking about abolishing the police department.”
Asked if he had changed the script to mirror events in the world, Sorkin said he didn’t “at all,” and in fact, thought about dialing some things back because they felt “too on the nose.”
In fact, he almost considered cutting a moment in the scene when Black Panther Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is bound and gagged, and defense attorney William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) asks him if he can breathe.
“It was kind of a throwaway [moment], Kunstler turns to Bobby and says, ‘Can you breathe?’ And suddenly the meaning of that has multiplied,” Sorkin said gravely.
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As for that mooted “Social Network” sequel? It is real? Well, it’s not written; Sorkin has insisted in the past that Fincher would have to direct, but he also suggested if there was a sequel—and clearly, that’s not in the works right now—it would not be a direct sequel and would have to explore how Facebook had continued to impact the world negatively. “You know, there’s so much going on with Facebook,” he explained. “It’s a bigger part of our lives, even bigger than it was when I wrote ‘The Social Network,’ in dark ways. So, there’s a sequel out there somewhere; I just don’t know if I have an idea for it.”
I countered and said, well, if you wait a few years and see how this continues to pan out, or if social media becomes further toxic or weaponized, an idea could very well spark. “You’re very right about that,” he laughed.
During our conversation, Sorkin talked about all this of more, working with Spielberg, his mentor William Goldman, his household of influential lawyers (he loves a courtroom drama), and a little tease about his now-announced Lucille Ball project, which now stars Nicole Kidman. You can listen to the full conversation below.
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