01
The Battle of Algiers
Why this pick
Its documentary-style photography, street-level urgency and morally fraught view of state violence closely match Medium Cool’s sense of witnessing history erupt in public space.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1969 1h 51m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Medium Cool
Drama
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Medium Cool, try these.
01
02
Punishment Park
Why this pick
A fierce faux-documentary about dissent and official repression, built around interviews, observation and escalating social conflict; it shares Medium Cool’s unnerving collapse of fiction into political reality.
03
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Why this pick
Its radical analysis of race, media and institutional power makes a strong companion, combining political argument with a direct, restless 1970s urban-cinema energy.
04
The Strawberry Statement
Why this pick
This campus-protest drama carries the same period-specific volatility and generational anger, moving from communal idealism toward a blunt confrontation with police power.
05
Harlan County U.S.A.
Why this pick
Though fully documentary, its embedded camerawork and danger-at-close-range intensity deliver the ethical pressure and raw view of American class conflict that Medium Cool makes so visceral.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
John Catselas is a television news cameraman. In one of the opening scenes, a group of cameramen and journalists are discussing the ethical responsibilities within their profession: when should filming a gruesome scene end and human responsibility to try to save a life begin? As viewers we are presented with issues such as violence as spectacle, political and social discontent, extreme racism, and class divisions. The film is constantly juggling documentary footage with feature film image. Among his sources, Wexler uses footage from military training camps in Illinois for military troops preparing for planned demonstrations by students and Opposition to the Vietnam War during the 1968 Democratic National Convention later that summer.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Verna Bloom
Eileen
Marianna Hill
Ruth
Sid McCoy
Frank Baker
Robert Forster
John Cassellis
Peter Bonerz
Gus
Peter Boyle
Gun Clinic Manager