Medium Cool

The revolutionary spirit is alive and well. At least it was in 1969, and probably still is in the person of Haskell Wexler, the great cinematographer who also decided to write and direct this film. I admit it's certainly a bold piece of leftist filmmaking especially considering it was distributed by a major studio. A film like this would never be widely distributed today whether it was left or right leaning. It's about an arrogant TV reporter/cameraman, played by the underrated Robert Forster (who would later go on to be "rediscovered" by Tarantino in Jackie Brown) who finds it increasingly difficult to distance himself from his subjects. The film opens on the aftermath of a car wreck, no one is around except two cameramen who are casually photographing the wreckage as we hear the muffled cries of the crash victims. Once they get their shots, the walk back to their car, call 911, and drive off. But as the times grow more politically aware, so does he (racial tensions, riots). The climax involves the riots at Democratic National Convention. I find a beautifully ironic when anti-war protestors begin to riot, but apparently Wexler misses the joke. He fills the film with potent imagery and a social consciousness, but lacks the profound philosophy of cinema and aesthetic sense of his inspirations (Godard, in particular). Bold, yes. Passionately crafted, certainly. But ultimately too heavy-handed and "serious" to affect any real change.