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Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill, Harold Blankenship ... see more see more... , Charles Geary , Sid McCoy , Christine Bergstrom , William Sickinger , Robert McAndrew , Marrian Walters , Beverly Younger , Edward Croke , Doug Kimball , Peter Boyle , Sandra Ann Roberts , Janet Langhart , Jeff Donaldson , Bill Sharp , Robert Paige , Richard Abrams , Walter Bradford , Russell Davis , Felton Perry , Val Grey , Livingston Lewis , John Jackson , Linda Handelman , Maria Friedman , Kathryn Schubert , Barbara Brydenthal , Elizabeth Moisant , Rose Bormacher , Barbara Jones , China Lee , Nancy Lee Noble , Mary Smith , Studs Terkel , Haskell Wexler , James H. Jacobs , George Bouillet

"I love to shoot film" is the sanguine motto of TV lensman John Cassellis (Robert Forster) in Haskell Wexler's 1969 Medium Cool, a semi-documentary investigation of image-making and politics. With his... read more read more... soundman, Gus (Peter Bonerz), John films such events as gruesome car wrecks with frosty detachment, considering himself a mere recorder of circumstances, his only responsibility to get his film in on time. Even his girlfriend, Ruth (Marianna Hill), cannot understand or penetrate John's complacency. Encounters with signs of the late '60s times, however, raise John's consciousness about the implications of his job, as he films a verbal attack by black militants on the media's racism, gets fired after he objects to having that footage turned over to the FBI, and meets Vietnam War widow Eileen (Verna Bloom). John witnesses the violence of the state firsthand as he and Eileen search for her son amidst the real-life demonstrations and riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Even though he realizes the political power of pointing a camera at anything, John finally cannot extricate himself or his loved ones from a culture obsessed with recording any sensational, gory incident. Scripted (from a novel by Jack Couffer), directed, and shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer and political activist Wexler, Medium Cool systematically questions the ideological power of images by combining documentary techniques such as "talking heads" and cinéma vérité with staged scenes between the actors. By the time Wexler and his crew start filming Forster and Bloom among the actual events at the convention, all barriers between fiction and fact are broken down, as Wexler's assistant can be heard warning, "Watch out, Haskell, it's real," when tear gas is thrown. The footage of cops clubbing people in the crowd is real, but Wexler's presence also turns it into part of a fictional story, revealing filmed "reality" to be as artificially constructed as any other fiction, subject to the interpretation of whoever holds the camera and, perhaps, to larger institutions of power. Funding Medium Cool partly out of his own resources, Wexler had free reign during production, but when the execs at Paramount saw the result, they were not pleased. Despite the timely subject matter, Paramount delayed and then curtailed the film's release, tempering its impact on critics and audiences. Regardless of that record, Medium Cool stands as a vital late-'60s film for its incisive narrative and formal dissection of the visual politics of "truth," and its awareness of how coolly seductive televised violence might be as entertainment, especially in a historical moment marked by incendiary images of political assassinations, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and counterculture protests. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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73% liked it

1,616 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

18 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Haskell Wexler

Release Date: January 1, 1969

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DVD Release Date: December 11, 2001

Stats: 123 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (123)

  • kenscheck
    September 22, 2011
    kenscheck
    Its okay but you get lost in the plot - which is frankly all over the place. I like a more solid plot in my movies (for the most part). Forster is cool, and I dug that this movie shot LITERALLY as the riots outside the 1968 DNC took place, but I didn't find myself all too engross... read moreed in the rest of the film.
  • theSwitchbladeSister
    February 28, 2011
    theSwitchbladeSister
    The pace and tone of Medium Cool reflects largely upon the decade in which it was released and the events which are reflected within it. As the protagonist, a TV cameraman, follows the events of the political tumult of 1968, we're given a first-hand view at the events and the ult... read moreimate implications. There's a point in which this film melds seamlessly from fictional narrative into documentary filmmaking before returning to its narrative conclusion which is absolutely fascinating to watch. Engrossing film, but one you definitely need some historical backing and understanding of to appreciate.
  • jam233
    December 15, 2009
    jam233
    This is one of those films where you have to put your mindset in the year it was made. This was quite unique and revolutionary at the time, particularly the combination of the real footage with dramatic footage, and it worked quite well. Also, the nude scenes were very controvers... read moreial at the time. It's filmed very simply, especially the cinematography. Good and real performances. Very believable done. Quite interesting, but it has lost some of it's punch over the years.
  • paeanhera
    May 4, 2007
    paeanhera
    This is such a low-key look at what Chicago was really like in 1968. The director was clever enough to get the cameraman to shoot the Guardmen at City Hall and a couple of the demonstrations. The closing scene is priceless.
  • scrambledegg7
    December 5, 2006
    scrambledegg7
    This was, no doubt, an important movie. This is, no doubt, a relevant movie. But this wasn't a movie I actually enjoyed until the very end. The last ten minutes made the first hour and fifty worth it all. Such a very powerful image to finish on. The rest of the movie, however, fe... read morelt disjointed and vague, like it wasn't sure what it was talking about or where it was going. It had so many points to make that none of them seemed to stand out until the very end.
  • thisnightwoundstime
    June 29, 2006
    thisnightwoundstime
    " Fictional documentary" doesn't completely work, but it's fascinating nonetheless. Wexler shows he can direct, and the film looks great as one would expect. Chicago is the setting, and is perhaps the film's main character. One of Robert Forster's earliest films.

View All Medium Cool Reviews

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Medium Cool is an awkward and even pretentious movie, but, like the report of the President's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, it has an importance that has nothing to do with literature. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Moviemakers have at last figured out how bright the average moviegoer is. By that I don't mean they're making more 'intelligent' pictures. I mean they understand how quickly we can catch onto things. Full Review

Jay Antani
August 20, 2010
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer

a quintessential late-60s time capsule piece Full Review

Cole Smithey
August 3, 2010
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Wexler may have been going after something "cool," but what he came up with is smoking hot cinema that puts Jean-Luc Goddard to shame. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
August 22, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

An interesting time capsule essay film that takes us back to the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and its police riot. Full Review

Steve Crum
March 23, 2008
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

The mass media message is still relevant in this groundbreaking 1969 film.

Emanuel Levy
March 18, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Blending fact and fiction, Wexler's seminal zeitgeist docu-drama, shot during the Chicago riots of 1968, raises intriguing questions, just like Antonioni's Blow-Up. Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
May 4, 2003
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

Skillfully manipulates viewer expectations of fiction and nonfiction. Full Review

Jeremy Heilman
February 12, 2002
Jeremy Heilman, Apollo Guide

Whatever its weaknesses, they are easy to forgive since Medium Cool represents a pioneering slice of cinematic history. Full Review

James Kendrick
January 6, 2002
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

a powerful, utterly unique film, one of the few that truly captured the turbulent late-'60s zeitgeist in all its fury Full Review

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