Medium Cool (film)
"Medium Cool" is a 1969 film directed by Haskell Wexler that explores the intersection of media and societal issues during a tumultuous period in American history, particularly the 1960s. The narrative centers on John Cassellis, a television cameraman played by Robert Forster, who is depicted as embodying professional detachment while navigating the complexities of his role in a rapidly changing society. The film begins with a striking scene where Cassellis films a car accident before calling for help, setting the tone for its critical examination of media ethics and responsibility.
As the story unfolds, Cassellis grapples with criticism regarding the superficiality of television news while covering significant events, such as the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy and the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention. His personal journey intertwines with that of Eileen, a Vietnam widow, highlighting the film's themes of loss and the impact of the Vietnam War on individuals and communities. Wexler’s innovative blend of fictional storytelling with documentary-style footage provides a real feel to the narrative, emphasizing the urgency of social commentary.
The film culminates in a dramatic and ironic conclusion that calls into question the media's role in shaping public perception and responsibility. By engaging with the struggles of marginalized communities, "Medium Cool" serves as both a reflection on media practices and a critique of societal attitudes during a politically charged era.
Medium Cool (film)
Released 1969
Director Haskell Wexler
A motion picture that uses fiction and documentary to explore the political mood in the United States in 1968. It follows the life and work of a television news cameraman in Chicago before and during the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Key Figures
Haskell Wexler (1926- ), film director
The Work
Medium Cool opens with cameraman John Cassellis (Robert Forster) and his sound technician filming a car wreck for their Chicago television station. Only after they get their footage do they call an ambulance. This famous scene is the first of many that examine the issues of 1960’s American life and the role the media play in reporting it.
As the film unfolds, Cassellis defends his profession against cocktail-party critics who blame television news for superficiality and violence, films the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy; and covers the National Guard’s crowd-control exercises as they prepare for the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Throughout these activities, Cassellis is the essence of cool, professional detachment.
A warming of his attitude is demonstrated by two events. Cassellis tries to pursue a human-interest story about an African American taxi driver who returns ten thousand dollars that someone has left in his cab. This story gets him fired by bosses who want more protester footage (which they share with Federal Bureau of Investigation dissident hunters). An accomplished professional, Cassellis quickly finds a job covering the convention floor.
In his private life, Cassellis finds himself becoming involved with a Vietnam widow from West Virginiacoal country (Eileen, played by Verna Bloom) and her introspective, adventurous boy. When her son disappears from home at the height of the rioting that surrounds the Democratic National Convention, Eileen enters the riot-torn hell of Grant Park but cannot find her son. She calls Cassellis for help, and they leave the convention in his car. On the road, they have a blowout and crash. A family drives by without stopping; a child in the car takes a snapshot as they pass, giving the film an ironically symmetrical conclusion.
Impact
This issue-oriented film looks at the role of the media in shaping or misshaping the nation’s view of itself, the damage done to individuals and society by the Vietnam War, and the lives of the urban poor, both African Americans and newcomers from Appalachia.
Director Haskell Wexler, a cinematographer for most of his career, combined semi-improvisational fictional scenes with vivid, documentary-style location shooting to give a cinema veritéfeel to his film. One sequence shows an intense group of African American militants lecturing Cassellis on the media’s shallow coverage of African American issues. The heart of the film shows Eileen searching downtown Chicago and Grant Park during the protests and riots of the convention’s final day. Wexler shot hours of dangerous live footage that were intercut with location sequences with Eileen. The result is a heightened dramatic realism that is effective as social commentary and adventurous, committed cinema.
In the film’s final shot, a cameraman (Wexler himself) pans from John and Eileen’s wrecked car toward the audience, challenging Americans to take responsibility for what a watching world will see through the media’s omnipresent lens.
Related Works
For a European view of similar issues see Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-up (1966) and Zabrieski Point (1969).
Additional Information
Ethan Mordden’s Medium Cool: The Movies of the 1960’s (1990) places Wexler’s film in its historical context.