Medium Cool

Focusing on a news cameraman's responses and responsibilities to the world framed through his lens - in particular, the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention and its attendant political riots, during which parts of the film were shot - ace liberal cinematographer Wexler's feature debut as director is a fascinating though not wholly successful fusion of cinéma-vérité and political radicalism. Already under the FBI's gaze for his civil rights and socialist documentaries, Wexler was actually accused of inciting the Chicago riots (the script was registered a year before); later he would again be subpoenaed over Emile de Antonio's film on the Weather Underground, which he shot. Recent movies owing a sizeable debt to Medium Cool include Newsfront and Circle of Deceit.