William Kunstler: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE

[Johann]

I saw this DVD recently and it was an excellent portrait of William Kunstler, the famous lawyer.

Made by his daughters, (who to this day do not understand their father in totem) this is a great profile of the man and what an amazing life he led.

He was a defence lawyer who was a part of some of the most interesting and powerful events of the 20th century. He defended the Chicago 8 (Abbie Hoffman, et al) for the inhuman crimes of the police in Chicago at the DNC in 1968- the event that brought Hunter Thompson to tears and showed how fucked up "the establishment" was. The scenes involving Bobby Seale of the Black Panther party being chained up in the courtroom should make you clench your fists...

Kunstler's name was made famous in short order.
His position shifted from "lawyer" to human rights activist, with the force of a tsunami.

He was at Attica in 1971, BEFORE the governor Rockefeller refused to come to the prison, when Kunstler was negotiating on the inmates' behalf- BEFORE the bloodbath.
He was at Wounded Knee (and was practically an Honorary Native!)
He was in the zeitgeist of criminal trials with an "underdog" defendant, and I have to say that I did not agree with some of the defendants he chose, especially toward the end of his life.

He had wild frizzy hair, was dedicated to JUSTICE at all costs: when one of his daughters asked why he chose to defend some nefarious characters he replied "Everybody deserves a good lawyer".
In fact his daughters are on a mission with this doc, trying to unearth what it was that made their father tick, and we get a good glimpse.
The FBI tracked Kunstler forever. He was a "threat" to the powers that be. His house was a place for protestors to shout that he was a traitor, etc, and his daughters were in constant fear.
I loved his noble aims, which are so rare.
Even though I have issues with how he went about his career I still have to tip my hat to Bill Kunstler.
This doc made me realize that not all lawyers are slimy shitheads. Some affect change and change lives in powerful ways.


WATCH IT.
You'll learn a lot about the USA in really radical times.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the tip. I don't know why I missed this. I got a rave review last November when it showed in San Francisco. I was around.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm watching it on Instant Play on Netflix right now. He was central to the world of social and political action of the Sixties and the Seventies. When I was young and first living in California in those days, I heard his name all the time. It's seemed essential to hear it in relation to any important political case. I love the lady from Des Plains who was on the Chicago Seven trial jury and said she learned to dislike her government. The revolt at Attica ("insurrection" Walter Cronkite calls it) and the subsequent assault and massacre have been covered in more detail in other films. The sisters are with William Kuntsler on that and respectful of the prisoners who lost their lives. This is admirable. Kuntsler was there when anything happened. This kind of person is often controversial. He might seem to be a publicity seeker. He wanted to be where the action was. He was intoxicated with the spirit of the Sixties. The Freedom Riders. The Chicago Seven. Attica. Wounded Knee. The film's coverage of Wounded Knee is very interesting. Fascinating that in his daughter's view, while Attica tore Bill apart, Wounded Knee made him whole again.

I didn't like the way the sisters began, with their disenchantment and Kunstler's seeming decline into defending bad people. But then I can see they wanted to put that out of the way, and also prepare us for the arc of his life. After Wounded Knee, an epiphany and climax, there is a certain decline. He defends flag burning before the Supreme Court, but then he is defending rapists and drug dealers. But he is still a great lawyer. The simplicity and clarity of his presentations is impressive. At his funeral Native Americans beat drums and chant in the cathedral.

Was he wrong to defend Nasair, the killer of Rabbi Kahane? Kahane was a hero to Jews, but also an extremist; he appeals to right wing Jews, not liberals. Anyway, everyone has a right to a lawyer. The most dramatic vindication of Kuntsler's seemingly blind defenses of the seemingly indefensible is the vindication of Yusef Salaam, the supposed Central Park "Wolf Pack" rapist who served nearly seven years in prison and then was vindicated. The public, the mayor, Donald Trump, and the cops didn't want to know the facts. The five accused were guilty and should be put away. And then Salaam is vindicated. Nice placement of this information in the film. This is a very well-paced 85 minutes.

[Johann]

Awesome Chris. Thanks for all the additional info. I didn't take notes while watching it so my post was from memory.
Great that you can see it on Netflix. And so quick!
What's "instant play"?

It does move at a good clip, and it's really educational. His daughters seem to know how to make a good documentary, and the project helped them as much as the public, I think. That was a hard Dad to have, he could've easily been gunned down.
The Attica part was unbelievable. And Kunstler was gutted by it, as anyone would be in his position.
And yes, Wounded Knee was a powerful re-energizing for his soul.
He's a fascinating man, and I think he should be studied in schools.

[Chris Knipp]

They'll never study radiicals like Kuntsler in much depth in the schools until we live in a different world.

I wrote a slightly expanded version of my comments as a User Review on IMDB: http://imdb.com/title/tt1074194/usercomments-2.
It seemed worthwhile both to record my having seen and admired and to add support for it, since the site had only one User Review up.

The film is impressive in that the daughters are emotionally invested for very obvious reasons, and approach their dad with sympathy, but also see him with a clear and critical eye. They had the same genes, and they learned well. The film is a coming to terms with a complex parent. The best and most memorable example of this is the amazing, wonderful 2003 documentary MY ARCHITECT about the brilliant (perhaps 20th century's greatest) architect Louis Kahn, by his son Nathaniel Kahn. I wrote a rave of that documentary on IMDb here and it's also on my website. That was a more difficult father to come to terms with, and arguably a greater man, not to undercut Kuntsler's huge contribution to law and politics 1960-2000. I'd list MY ARCHITECT as one of the documentaries of the last decade that has moves me the most, along with TO BE AND TO HAVE and a few others. The full title is MY ARCHITECT: A SON'S JOURNEY. It's available on Netflix; see here. Can't be "watched instantly."

There are lots of hard dads to have, and many of them are amazing men. Mine was hard to have, but lovely to have known.

If you're a subscriber to Netflix, you can watch certain of their titles as streaming instant downloads--and also watch them on your TV. It's not half the films though, I don't think. But it's a very handy thing, and there is no limit on the number you can watch that way. There's no limit on the number of DVDs either, but you can only have the number you're paying for, one to six, at a time. You could conceivably watch six of their instant streaming downloads in a single day, and another six the next day. I've found this service good for watching TV series. Sometimes you just don't want to stop till you've gone through the whole season, or the whole series. Netflix foresees a switch away from hard copy DVD watching and so they have introduced a lower rate membership that is only for the instant play films. The trouble with this is that not all the films are available that way, and it is often the more rare and interesting items that are DVD-only.

[Chris Knipp]

Johan--Take a look at the 2010 Golden Globe nominations and see if you have any comments. cinemabon called it "tripe" and "patronizing garbage," but it seems like a fine mainstream list to me, and not all that mainstream in places. Blue Valentine ain't for everybody. But there are plenty of interesting titles they left out -- of necessity.

[Chris Knipp]

revised version with illustration.

E.S. Kunstler: William Kuntsler: Disturbing the Universe



A record of the leading American civil rights lawyer of the Sixties and Seventies

A documentary about the lawyer William M. Kuntsler made by his two daughters, Emily and Sarah, who look on his story with a vision that's both honest and passionate. The result is a wonderfully three- dimensional picture. This deserves comparison with the Daniel Ellsberg documentary, 'The Most Dangerous Man in America,' and the various films about Noam Chomsky.

I missed this film when it showed last year, but someone called my attention to it and I found it on Netflix Instant Play. Kuntsler was an ubiquitous figure in the legal battles of American in the second half of the twentieth century and absolutely central to the world of social and political action of the Sixties and the Seventies. When I was young and first living in California in those days, it seemed few important controversies came up without the involvement of William Kuntsler. He was the number one civil rights lawyer, synonymous with civil rights. It's seemed essential to hear his name in relation to any important political case. I love the lady from Des Plains in this film who was on the Chicago Seven trial jury and saus she learned to dislike her government when she saw the humiliating treatment of Bobby Seale in the courtroom. While the Freedom Marches converted Kuntsler into an activist lawyer, Chicago turned him into a leading figure who sought out the trials and issues of the century.

The revolt at Attica ("insurrection" Walter Cronkite calls it) and the subsequent assault and massacre have been covered in more detail in other films. The sisters are with William Kuntsler on that and respectful of the prisoners who lost their lives. This is admirable. Kuntsler was there when anything happened. This kind of person is often controversial. He might seem to be a publicity seeker. He wanted to be where the action was. He was intoxicated with the spirit of the Sixties. The Freedom Riders. The Chicago Seven. Attica. Wounded Knee. The film's coverage of Wounded Knee is very interesting. Fascinating that in his daughter's view, while Attica tore Bill apart, Wounded Knee made him whole again. Each of the major cases touched on in the film is worthy of thorough study, Chicago, Attica, Wounded Knee, the Central Park rape case all are profoundly significant, and Kuntsler was there.

I didn't at first like the way the sisters began, with their disenchantment and their picture of Kunstler's seeming decline in his later years into defending bad people. But then I can see they wanted to put that out of the way, and also prepare us for the arc of his life. After Wounded Knee, an epiphany and climax, there is a certain decline. He defends flag burning before the Supreme Court, but then he is defending rapists and drug dealers. But he is still a great lawyer. The simplicity and clarity of his presentations is impressive. At his funeral Native Americans beat drums and chant in the cathedral.

Was he wrong to defend Nasair, the killer of Rabbi Kahane? Kahane was a hero to Jews, but also an extremist; he appeals to right-wing Jews, not liberal ones. Anyway, everyone has a right to a lawyer. The most dramatic vindication of Kuntsler's seemingly blind defenses of the seemingly indefensible is the vindication of Yusef Salaam, the supposed Central Park "Wolf Pack" rapist who served nearly seven years in prison and then was vindicated. The public, the mayor, Donald Trump, and the cops didn't want to know the facts. The five accused were guilty and should be put away. And then Salaam is vindicated. As Emily and Sarah Kuntsler say, they don't know if their father thought him innocent; he said that was not a question a lawyer asked his client. He took the case because the defendants were being convicted by public opinion without a trial. Nice placement of this information in the film: you thought Bill Kuntsler was crazy? Look at this. He was right. This is a very well-paced and clearly structured 85 minutes. A good basic introduction to one of the key figures of the law, politics, and society of his period of American life. The approach is both intimate and personal and public and theoretical.

Winner of the L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth Vision Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. A co-production of ITVS.

[Johann]

Thank you for resurrecting this thread Chris.
Kunstler at first glance seems like a nutcase. But he was dead-bang on about a lot of things.
The world needs Armies of lawyers like him, lawyers with a spine! Lawyers with integrity and HUMANITY!

[Chris Knipp]

There doesn't seem to be anyone like him now. it was a different era too, but he was the greatest engagé lawyer of my lifetime as far as I know. And extremely visible. You knew when he appeared to defend a case that it was important and that it would be strongly defended.