1971 2015

1971

Critics Consensus

Illuminating a chapter of America's past that ties directly into current events, 1971 persuasively demonstrates that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

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1971 Photos

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Movie Info

On March 8, 1971, The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, a group of ordinary citizens, breaks into a small FBI office in Pennsylvania, takes every file, and exposes the FBI's illegal surveillance and intimidation of citizens.

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

Johanna Hamilton
Producer:

Katy Chevigny, Johanna Hamilton, Marilyn Ness
Writer:

Johanna Hamilton, Gabriel Rhodes
Release Date (Streaming):

Dec 5, 2016
Runtime:

1h 19m

Cast & Crew

Rich Graff
John Raines

Lauren A. Kennedy
Bonnie Raines

Johanna Hamilton
Director

Johanna Hamilton
Screenwriter

Gabriel Rhodes
Screenwriter

Katy Chevigny
Producer

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for 1971

New on Netflix: Season Two of How to Get Away With Murder and More

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Critic Reviews for 1971

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (1)

In her recounting, a strange and lively atmosphere of outrage, enthusiasm and paranoia, Hamilton has made of her tale a kind of real-life, old-fashioned analog caper film.

June 4, 2015 | Full Review…

Robert Lloyd
Los Angeles Times
1971 is a fascinating documentary that unearths the human story behind a burglary of the FBI offices in Media, Pennsylvania, when every secret file was stolen.

June 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Kate Muir
Times (UK)
Well worth seeking out, especially for anyone with an interest in activism and counterculture history.

June 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Leslie Felperin
Guardian
"1971" is an appropriately matter-of-fact title for a decidedly low-key documentary. But don't mistake a lack of flash for an absence of substance.

March 12, 2015 | Full Review…

Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
[A] riveting, revelatory documentary.

March 5, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
For those who care about personal freedoms, this well-crafted and illuminating film is required viewing.

March 5, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Bruce DeMara
Toronto Star
The film is entertaining; there are many small moments of humor to be found in the tense situations, and audiences are satisfied to see the FBI's activities exposed for what they were.

July 27, 2018 | Full Review…

Deborah Krieger
The Stake (Minnesota)
Well-told and engaging, 1971 effectively build a portrait of the times and what follows without leaning too heavily on the recreations.

June 6, 2016 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

John Fink
The Film Stage
Grips like a thriller but it also amuses ...

June 4, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Radio Times
Even if you have an allergic reaction to dramatic re-enactments in documentary films -- and I confess I get itchy during them -- 1971 provides an exciting, non-hokey account of a remarkable true story.

June 4, 2015 | Full Review…

Robert Horton
Seattle Weekly
This is fun, but the movie is perhaps most interesting for the way it examines the group's collective on-the-lam cool.

June 4, 2015

Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News
Hamilton nevertheless skilfully evokes the era's turbulent political and social climate, with genuine suspense generated during the heist matched by unexpected humour.

March 11, 2015 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Michael D. Reid
Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)

View All Critic Reviews (31)

Audience Reviews for 1971

Mar 05, 2015

An excellent doc about the great whistle blowing of the 70s - uncovering the mass surveillance undertaken by the FBI on ordinary American citizens.

John B Super Reviewer
Feb 12, 2015

"1971" is a documentary about a group of anti-Vietnam war activists taking their pacifism a step further. Responding to rumors that the FBI was spying on them, they planned and successfully pulled off a burglary of an FBI regional office in Media, Pa in 1971. What they found confirmed not only their fears but also that it was even worse than they previously imagined, especially as it relates to the formerly top secret program COINTELPRO. In dispensing the files to media outlets, this also served as a precedent for future whistleblowers such as in the cases of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate. And that relevance continues to the present day. "1971" also serves as a neat visual companion to Betty Medsger's book "The Burglary" by using archival footage to visualize the times, while making suspenseful use of reconstructions.(As one of the journalists who received the files at the Washington Post, she is also interviewed in the documentary, along with the burglars.) At the same time, the book goes into greater detail, especially on the subject of how exactly J. Edgar Hoover's unchallenged cult of personality hurt the FBI over the decades.

Walter M Super Reviewer