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Medium Cool [Blu-ray]
(Haskell Wexler, 1969)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: H & J Video: Criterion Collection Spine #658 / Masters of Cinema - Spine #120
Disc: Region: 'A' / Region 'B' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)Runtime: 1:50:39.674 / 1:50:27.245Disc Size: 49,726,461,446 bytes / 45,146,339,668 bytesFeature Size: 32,845,086,720 bytes / 32,594,488,704 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps / 35.01 Mbps Chapters: 23 / 10 Case: Standard Blu-ray case / Transparent Blu-ray caseRelease date: May 21st, 2013 / August 31st, 2015
Video (same): Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentaries:
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48
kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles: English (SDH), none English (SDH), none
Extras:
• Two audio commentaries, one featuring Wexler, editorial
consultant Paul Golding, and actor
Marianna Hill, and the
other featuring historian Paul Cronin
•
Audio commentary with writer and director Haskell Wexler,
editorial consultant Paul Golding, and actor Marianna Hill • DVD of the feature with extras
Bitrate:
Description: It’s 1968, and the whole world is watching. With the U.S. in social upheaval, famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler decided to make a film about what the hell was going on. Medium Cool, his debut feature, plunges us into the moment. With its mix of fictional storytelling and documentary technique, this depiction of the working world and romantic life of a television cameraman (Robert Forster) is a visceral cinematic snapshot of the era, climaxing with an extended sequence shot right in the middle of the riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. An inventive commentary on the pleasures and dangers of wielding a camera, Medium Cool is as prescient a political film as Hollywood has ever produced.
The Film:
"I love to shoot film" is the sanguine motto of TV lensman John
Cassellis (Robert Forster) in Haskell Wexler's 1969 Medium Cool, a
semi-documentary investigation of image-making and politics. With his
soundman, Gus (Peter Bonerz), John films such events as gruesome car
wrecks with frosty detachment, considering himself a mere recorder of
circumstances, his only responsibility to get his film in on time. Even
his girlfriend, Ruth (Marianna Hill), cannot understand or penetrate
John's complacency. Encounters with signs of the late '60s times,
however, raise John's consciousness about the implications of his job,
as he films a verbal attack by black militants on the media's racism,
gets fired after he objects to having that footage turned over to the
FBI, and meets Vietnam War widow Eileen (Verna Bloom). John witnesses
the violence of the state firsthand as he and Eileen search for her son
amidst the real-life demonstrations and riots at the 1968 Chicago
Democratic Convention. Even though he realizes the political power of
pointing a camera at anything, John finally cannot extricate himself or
his loved ones from a culture obsessed with recording any sensational,
gory incident. Scripted (from a novel by Jack Couffer), directed, and
shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer and political activist Wexler,
Medium Cool systematically questions the ideological power of images by
combining documentary techniques such as "talking heads" and cinéma
vérité with staged scenes between the actors. By the time Wexler and his
crew start filming Forster and Bloom among the actual events at the
convention, all barriers between fiction and fact are broken down, as
Wexler's assistant can be heard warning, "Watch out, Haskell, it's
real," when tear gas is thrown. The footage of cops clubbing people in
the crowd is real, but Wexler's presence also turns it into part of a
fictional story, revealing filmed "reality" to be as artificially
constructed as any other fiction, subject to the interpretation of
whoever holds the camera and, perhaps, to larger institutions of power. 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. Excerpt from Timeout Film Guide located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Medium Cool looks excellent on Blu-ray from Criterion. We have an film shot with a variety of styles and film types, but the 1080P image looks much more alive than the old SD. There are examples of grain and texture that give it a real film-like appearance. This is dual-layered with a high bitrate and we can guess that it is a solid representation of the film. It is advertised as "...restored 4K digital film transfer, approved by director Haskell Wexler". It is in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and contrast and detail look healthy - as do the colors - notable in the Roller Derby sequences. They is not a lot of depth. This Blu-ray has no discernable flaws and supplies a wonderful HD presentation. I imagine that it looked this impressive in its original theatrical run.
Just like the Criterion this Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is cited as being from a 4K digital film transfer approved by director Haskell Wexler. It is also dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate. It looks slightly brighter and the Criterion grain may be more textured, but for most these will be unnoticeable differences. Toggling between the expanded captures will identify the, marginal, disparity.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample of Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
More Blu-ray Captures
Audio :Audio is in the form of an authentic linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps. It is predictably flat but there are touches of depth. The original score is by Mike Bloomfield (who wrote a piece used in Easy Rider) and it sounds quite solid in the lossless transfer. There are optional English subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A' disc.
Exact same audio transfer as the Criterion - linear PCM mono at 1152 kbps - 24-bit. I doubt anyone could tell the difference between the Blu-ray audio. Masters of Cinema also offers optional English (SDH) subtitles but their disc is region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Criterion has really done wonders with stacking this package with valuable extras. We get two audio commentaries, the first is duplicated from the 2001 Paramount DVD featuring Wexler, editorial consultant Paul Golding, and actor Marianna Hill, and the other has historian Paul Cronin, who really knows his sh*t, putting a different perspective on the film's reaction and longer term perceptions. We get a new 15-minute interview with Wexler as he discusses his documentary work, his involvement in the civil rights movement and how Medium Cool still resonates with him. We get almost an hour of extended excerpts from “Look Out Haskell, It’s Real!,” a 2001 documentary by Cronin about the making of Medium Cool, featuring interviews with Wexler; Golding; actors Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, and Robert Forster; Chicago historian Studs Terkel; and others. Included are 15-minutes of excerpts from Sooner or Later, Cronin’s documentary about Harold Blankenship, who plays Harold in the film. “Medium Cool” Revisited, a new half-hour video by Wexler, returning to Chicago, about the Occupy movement’s protests against the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago. It runs slight over 1/2 an hour. There is also a trailer plus a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by film critic and programmer Thomas Beard.
MoC include the audio commentary with writer and director Haskell Wexler, editorial consultant Paul Golding, and actor Marianna Hill as found on the Criterion, as well as the 53-minute Look Out Haskell, It's Real!, extended excerpts from Paul Cronin's documentary and the 16-minutes of excerpts from Sooner or Later, where Harold Blankenship is interviewed almost 40 years after appearing in Medium Cool. Additionally we get 10-minutes of Wexler demonstrates the cameras used to make Medium Cool entitled Haskell and the Cameras. There is a theatrical trailer, the package contains a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the government-commissioned report on the Democratic National Convention riot of 1968 illustrated with archival imagery and being Dual-Formta has a second disc DVD of the feature and extras. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
BOTTOM LINE:
Another great Masters of Cinema Blu-ray release. We may give a slight edge to the Criterion for the additional commentary but overall these releases have a lot of parity. We can give another very strong recommendation!Gary Tooze April 29th, 2013 August 20th, 2015
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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