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Movies / On DVD / William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

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William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (2010)

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Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:17

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.7/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Nov 13, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: During the second half of the 20th century, William Kunstler was one of the most admired attorneys in America--and one of the most hated. Kunstler was a man who thrived on controversial cases; in... During the second half of the 20th century, William Kunstler was one of the most admired attorneys in America--and one of the most hated. Kunstler was a man who thrived on controversial cases; in the 1960s, he specialized in defending clients who ran afoul of the law on civil rights and free speech issues, and he spoke on behalf of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Lenny Bruce, members of the Black Panther Party, Native American activists, and prisoners' rights groups. Kunstler found himself in the national media spotlight in 1969 when he defended "the Chicago Eight," activists who were accused of organizing riots during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention; his flamboyant style in the courtroom fascinated the press, and some believe he soon became as interested in getting his name in the papers and his face on television as he was in the law. In his later years, Kunstler developed a reputation as a man who would defend clients whom no one else would touch, including drug dealers, accused rapists, organized-crime figures, and suspected terrorists, though he remained a passionate advocate of the American legal system. Kunstler's daughters, Emily and Sarah, began asking their famous dad questions about his career and his ideals as children armed with a home movie camera, and they've used some of that footage--along with vintage newsreels and interviews with Kunstler's friends, foes, and clients--as the basis for the film WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE, a biographical portrait of the man and his legacy. [More]

Starring: William Kunstler, Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Daniel Berrigan

Starring: William Kunstler, Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Daniel Berrigan, Herman Badillo, Harry Belafonte, Phil Donahue, Jimmy Breslin, Alan Dershowitz, Elizabeth Fink, Jean Fritz, Karin Kunstler-Goldman, Tom Hayden, Bruce Jackson, Gregory Joey Johnson, Ron Kuby, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Nancy Kurshan, Gerald Lefcourt, Rev. Vernon C. Mason

Director: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler

Director: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
Screenwriter: Sarah Kunstler
Composer: Shahad Ismaily
Studio: Arthouse Films

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Release:

Mar 30, 2010

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

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Reviews for William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

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Like the recent animated documentary Chicago Ten, this is a timely reminder of a era when "change" was more than just a campaign slogan. But it's also a personal portrait, with shadings.

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
01/20/10
Joe Williams
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/25/09
Boxoffice Magazine

Civil rights? The American Indian Movement? The Chicago 10 trial? The Central Park rape trial? Attica prison riots? Kunstler was in the thick of all of them.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
12/18/09
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe offers a deeply personal view of a larger-than-life figure. It's a view filtered through a prism of memory and emotion, but one well worth investigating.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
12/10/09
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Leading the defense in the 1969–70 trial of the Chicago Seven, William Kunstler became a radical and a celebrity, and this vivid documentary captures how those two facets of his life worked together in morally urgent and contradictory ways.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
12/02/09
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

His daughters, Emily and Sarah Kunstler, made this timely documentary partly to celebrate their late father (he died in 1995) and partly to reiterate his fundamental beliefs.

Full Review Source: East Bay Express | comment Comment
11/21/09
Kelly Vance
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express

Terrific archival footage from a range of seminal civil rights events, as well as affecting narration written by Sarah Kunstler and spoken by Emily Kunstler (who also edited the film), round out this superior documentary.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/20/09
Gary Goldstein
Gary Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...an in-depth but deeply emotional chronicle of their father's fascinating life.

Full Review Source: BitterLawyer.com | comment Comment
11/20/09
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
BitterLawyer.com

Fails to demystify the man bearing the film's title.

Full Review Source: Washington City Paper | comment Comment
11/20/09
Tricia Olszewski
Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper

The film's point is clear. And for those looking for a straight answer, it's this: The bravest lawyer isn't the one who takes on the clients that allow him to feel good about himself. It's the one who takes on the clients that give us nightmares.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/20/09
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Kunstler's accomplishments, principles and courage are all here in Disturbing the Universe. But there is something else that adds an unexpected layer of emotional complexity.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
11/19/09
Tom Keogh
Tom Keogh
Seattle Times

Other than a few tasty tidbits, like the fact that he wrote Joseph McCarthy’s will while still a young family attorney, there’s not much fresh news about William Kunstler in this documentary.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
11/19/09
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

A fond introduction to the activist lawyer by his daughters that may be more informative for their generation given that it covers little new ground.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
11/14/09
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

A thoughtful, clear-eyed look at the life and career of Kunstler, the New York attorney who was famous, and infamous, for standing up for his liberal ideals even for clients who might have been morally objectionable.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
11/13/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A refresher course on the history of American left-wing politics in the 1960s and ’70s.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
11/13/09
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is said that everyone either loved or hated radical defense lawyer William Kunstler. A documentary by his daughters asks, "Why choose 'or' instead of 'both'?"

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/13/09
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is indeed about the radical-leftist attorney. But this engrossing and provocative documentary is also about a tragic kind of liberal guilt.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/12/09
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The major flaw with William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe is that it isn’t more personal.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
11/12/09
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club

A deserving tribute to the man who, on his best days, stood up for the prisoners in Attica and the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee and marched with Martin Luther King.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/12/09
Gerald Peary
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix

The film slowly loses the sobering toughness of its initial inquiry, and finally comes off as bloodline-biased hagiography.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
11/11/09
Keith Uhlich
Keith Uhlich
Time Out New York
 
 
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