Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
MOVIE REVIEW
William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe
Lionheart For Justice, With An Unyielding Spirit
William Kunstler, with daughters Emily and Sarah, in 1980.
Maddy Miller
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler produce and direct "William Kunstler:
Disturbing The Universe", a documentary about their attorney-father's fight for
human rights for those most of the silent (and vocal) majority in American
society despised. The film opens on Friday in San Francisco at
Landmark's Opera Plaza Cinema.
Mr. Kunstler, who passed away in 1995, defended such notorious figures as the
Chicago Seven, El Sayeed Nosair and numerous others including the young men
whose convictions and prison sentences in the Central Park Jogger 1989 attack
case were overturned in 2002 after
another man confessed to beating and raping the
jogger,
Tricia Meili, who came forward around that time
to talk about her ordeal. (Full disclosure: I had given some personal
support to the families of the innocent young men during their criminal trials
in New York City 20 years ago, and now as an attorney understand just how
difficult defending the young men in a courtroom had to be in such a hateful
climate.)
"Disturbing The Universe" capsulate two daughters' struggle to understand what
galvanized their dad to fight legal battles for the highly unpopular. The
crux of the reason, Mr. Kunstler recalls in interviews conducted years ago by
his young daughters, is the inspiration he received from looking at the
sculpture of Michelangelo's David, weighing the moments of decision just before
throwing a rock at Goliath. It's a principle that formed the bedrock of
Mr. Kunstler's thirst for justice for all.
On a more personal note the sister filmmakers also acknowledge the teaching by
their father that "all white people are racist, even you," and it's a lesson
that they as then-very young white girls try to process. They grapple with
their own dislike of the accused people (mostly black and Native American) that
Mr. Kunstler stood up for, though at least on film there aren't any traces of
resentment or anger about their father's activism or his being away from them at
times or being mired in legal work.
The film looks at Mr. Kunstler's wins (such as the right to burn the U.S. flag,
and the acquittal of New York cop-shooter Larry Davis) and bitter losses in the
courtroom and beyond (the murders at Attica State Prison in 1971), as well as
Mr. Kunstler's transformation from courtroom rights ambassador to
activist-attorney
for the marginalized and oppressed. The daughters reveal that the climate
under which they grew up was uneasy at best, witnessing protests outside their
home, and being afraid of the FBI, which surveilled their father for years.
William Kunstler's connection to the everyman and outsider is examined via
archival news footage, home video and interlaced with his upbringing in a racist
household in Connecticut, his experiences as an Army soldier during World War
Two and his personal relationships but the documentary is mostly about the work
of a man who worked even harder as he himself became less popular. Many
public figures weigh in on Mr. Kunstler, some fondly, a few not so much.
Mr. Kunstler is hardly portrayed as a figure with vanity, though his humor and
compassion ring through loud and clear.
Sharp, sobering and insightful, "Disturbing The Universe" celebrates yet doesn't
lionize Mr. Kunstler, and the film is more balanced than you might expect
despite the close personal connection of its directors. It's an important
and highly relevant work which may prompt you to ask: where are the William
Kunstlers of this new century?
With: Reverend C. Vernon Mason, Phil Donahue, Lynne Stewart, Herman
Badillo, Yusuf Salaam, Jimmy Breslin, Michael Ratner, Harry Belafonte, Father
Daniel Berrigan, Clyde Bellecourt, Alan Dershowitz, Elizabeth Fink, Jean Fritz,
Karen Kunstler Goldman, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, Ron Kuby, Barry Slotnick
Madonna Thunderhawk, Bill Means, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Gerald Lefcourt, Len
Weinglass and many more.
“William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
The film’s running time
is one hour and 26 minutes and opens on Friday, November 20 in San Francisco at
Landmark's
Opera Plaza Cinema.
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
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