Medium Cool (1969). Photofest.
(Haskell Wexler, US 1969, 111 min., 16mm)
A Tribute to Robert Forster. Following two noted supporting performances in Reflections in a Golden Eye (John Huston, 1967) and The Stalking Moon (Robert Mulligan, 1968), Robert Forster brings a sizzling screen presence in Medium Cool. His inscrutable stare and volcanic intensity perfectly characterize 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 cinema verité style blurs the lines between reality and fiction. The Dryden Theatre will present Forster’s personal 16mm print, donated to the Eastman Museum in 2004.
Note start time.