nathansnook

Medium Cool

“All good people deplore problems from a distance.” I think this is solid proof that the camera can be a strong drive through narrative. The camera acts as many things, one of which is man. Pulling and pushing through people. Seeing from down below. Nodding in agreement with characters. Wexler’s camera is with the people. It doesn’t stand from a distance. It is the sidelines at which action and reaction occur. Sonically, from start to finish, you must notice the sirens, the chants, all fanfare that drives the story as well, moves scenes along. One cut will allow sound to bleed into another to create this frenetic movement, the chaos of America. “When you come in here and say you’ve come to do something of human interest, it makes a person wonder: whether you’re going to do something of interest to other humans or whether you consider the person human in whom you’re interested.” Wexler, always known for his camerawork, is powerful here. Political even. It is voice by which all that is heard, all that is captured from minorities and how they move through such turbulent times. It’s interesting to see this now when it was made then. That nothing has really changed. That America, at its heart, is a violent country and will know nothing more. It will continue to fund the deaths of children in Palestine. It will continue to churn innocent blood to stay at its supposed superpower status. “Can you feel violence?”“I don’t know what to think. Seems like no man’s life is worth anything anymore.” Every single life in this film, bouncing back between fiction and documentary as styles to construct story. A love story. A search for answers. A documentary. A reflection. Fieldnotes. It’s incredibly in-your-face knowing that humanity is still a core part of us. There’s a scene in which a white dove flutters as a fish eye lens runs along the floor between our lead and a girl in a lived-in Chicago apartment, capturing flesh and objects, creating mere theater amidst laughter and kisses.