Medium Cool

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.

United States
1969
110 minutes
Color
1.85:1
English
Spine #658

Special Features

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

New, restored 4K digital film transfer, approved by director Haskell Wexler, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Two audio commentaries, one featuring Wexler, editorial consultant Paul Golding, and actor Marianna Hill, and the other featuring historian Paul Cronin
New interview with Wexler
Extended excerpts from “Look Out Haskell, It’s Real!,” a 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
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 about the Occupy movement’s protests against the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: A new essay by film critic and programmer Thomas Beard

New cover by Fred Davis

Blu‑ray 1 Disc $27.96 SRP: $39.95

DVD 2 Discs $20.96 SRP: $29.95

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

New, restored 4K digital film transfer, approved by director Haskell Wexler, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Two audio commentaries, one featuring Wexler, editorial consultant Paul Golding, and actor Marianna Hill, and the other featuring historian Paul Cronin
New interview with Wexler
Extended excerpts from “Look Out Haskell, It’s Real!,” a 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
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 about the Occupy movement’s protests against the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: A new essay by film critic and programmer Thomas Beard

New cover by Fred Davis