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Medium Cool (1969)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
In setting the tone of Medium Cool the very first scene involves a freeway car wreck with two TV journalists circling like vultures. At first it seems that this is just the aftermath of an accident - then the camera pans down. In fact the TV crew are the very first people on the scene and as they record the moans of the injured driver we grasp their sense of priorities. Only when they've finished filming do they think of an ambulance and, of course, they haven't got time to actually help the victim. This atmosphere of distance and lack of emotion pervades the entire film as the rhythm and intensity of emotions surrounding all of the journalists builds to an almost unbearable climax.

Throughout the movie there are two distinct storylines that merge mid-way through and provide the basis for a shattering conclusion. The first of this concerns the cameraman of the TV crew that we first see and the events which swirl about him. The location of these events is Chicago during the Vietnam war. The city is on a knife-edge with the tension of demonstrations physically palpable. In parallel to this a mother and child, recently moved from West Virginia, live in a tenement area. Events conspire to bring these people together with the hope that perhaps real emotions are possible in all of this chaos.

In a perverse twist the mother ends up roaming the city streets looking for her son while peace marchers, police and the National Guard are all around her. Like an angel she slips through the crowds unharmed, although at every step the menace of physical violence projects from the screen. Using hand-held camera-work in close-up the emotional intensity is cranked up to an uncomfortable and scary level. Meanwhile the cameraman is covering the democratic convention and separated from the real news. The two do meet up but to give the ending away would be unfair. Suffice to say that there are no winners in this detailed examination of the world of TV newsman.

In summary, this is a gripping and unconventional tale. The use of words is kept to a minimum; instead TV footage and pictures provides the background. Both the camera-work and the soundtrack are superb and fit the mood perfectly.

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