(Haskell Wexler, US 1969, 111 min., 35mm)
Following up on two noted supporting performances in Reflections in a Golden Eye (John Huston, 1967) and The Stalking Moon (Robert Mulligan, 1968), Robert Forster’s screen presence sizzles in Medium Cool (1968). His inscrutable stare and volcanic intensity perfectly characterizes a man caught up in the turbulence of the late 1960s. Forster plays John Cassellis, a news cameraman who discovers his footage is being handed over to the FBI and becomes enraged. After being fired, he finds a job as a freelancer during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Partially shot against the backdrop of the actual convention, director Haskell Wexler’s cinéma vérité style blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Presented in a brand-new 35mm print struck for the Chicago Film Society. Preceded by The Battle of Michigan Ave. (1969), a documentary that captures the havoc first-hand.
Social Confrontation: The Battle of Michigan Ave.
(The Film Group, US 1969, 11 min., 16mm)