Haskell Wexler Movies

Saul Landau's documentary examines the espionage war between Cuba and the United States that's gone on for decades. He interviews former agents, as well as showcases important landmarks in the strained relations between the two countries, including the Bay of Pigs invasion. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Groundbreaking environmentalist Rachel Carson published her revolutionary tome Silent Spring in 1962, a mere two years before her death from cancer at the relatively young age of 56. In the interim, Carson - who sustained a reputation as a deliberately private and reclusive woman - was forced into an uncomfortable public role as a critic of the use of carcinogenic pesticides. This deeply intimate documentary finds the woman reacting with a mixture of anger and drollness to the attacks against her by the press, the United States government and various chemical producers. Special features include "A Visit with Roger," "A Visit with Stewart Udall," and a segment titled "Lessons from Carson and Challenges Ahead." ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In 1997, Brent Hershman had spent 19 hours hard at work as a camera assistant on the set of the film Pleasantville one day before he was allowed to go home. The exhausted Hershman fell asleep at the wheel of his car shortly afterward, and died in an auto accident. The event sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, and led a number of union representatives in the film and television community to demand "twelve on, twelve off" regulations, in which crew members would not be allowed to work more than 12 hours at a stretch, with a 12-hour break following. However, many studios and producers have bristled at this suggestion, believing the long hours on a film set are an economic necessity. Haskell Wexler, a veteran filmmaker, cinematographer, union representative and political activist, is an active supporter of the "twelve on, twelve off" proposal, believing long hours are not only dangerous for the health and personal lives of workers, but they result in sloppy, poorly focused work that causes more problems than it solves. Who Needs Sleep? is an activist documentary produced and directed by Wexler which examines the dangers of sleep deprivation, the risks it can pose for workers, and the need for humane worker protection legislation in the entertainment industry (as well as other businesses). Who Needs Sleep? includes interviews with filmmakers Richard Donner, John Sayles, and Richard D. Zanuck, cameramen Vilmos Zsigmond, Conrad L. Hall, and Roger Deakins, and actors Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Annette Bening, and Tyne Daly. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Mark Wexler is a successful photojournalist who has also distinguished himself as a documentary filmmaker, but in many ways he has spent much of his life in the shadow of his more famous father, Haskell Wexler. One of Hollywood's greatest cinematographers, Haskell is also known as a director (he made the acclaimed feature Medium Cool as well as a handful of documentaries) and as a tireless political activist. But while Haskell is widely respected as a major talent, he's also known for being fiercely opinionated and difficult to work with, and Mark makes no secret of the fact that he's had a prickly relationship with his dad. Mark Wexler takes a detailed look at the life and work of Haskell Wexler in Tell Them Who You Are, which examines Haskell's career in the movie business, his relationship with his family (including his three marriages and his frequent lack of respect for Mark), and how he's viewed by his friends and peers. Interview subjects include Jane Fonda, Paul Newman, George Lucas, Michael Douglas, Milos Forman, Ron Howard, Dennis Hopper, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the summer of 1968, cinematographer Haskell Wexler went to Chicago to shoot his first directorial effort, a drama about a television news cameraman who finds it difficult to remain objective about the events surrounding him. Wexler intended to use the National Democratic Convention being held in the Windy City as a backdrop, but as clashes between anti-war protesters and the Chicago police force became violent, Wexler and his cast and crew found themselves caught in the middle, and the violent skirmishes and their aftermath at once informed the film's content and became a vital part of its subtext. Look Out Haskell, It's Real! The Making of "Medium Cool" is a documentary that tells the story behind one of the most acclaimed and original American films of the 1960s; director Paul Cronin includes interviews with Wexler and many of the members of his cast and crew, while also featuring outtakes from the film recently discovered in storage at the U.C.L.A. film archive. A "work in progress" version of Look Out Haskell, It's Real!: The Making of "Medium Cool" was screened at the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival on a double bill with a restored print of Medium Cool itself. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler directs this vérité activist documentary about the pathetic state of L.A.'s public transportation system. Recalling his first film, The Bus (1965), Wexler focuses on the city's appallingly overbudgeted -- and largely useless -- subway project, as well as its underfunded bus service. The film follows a small band of activists who lobby the city government to purchase more buses and pay bus drivers a higher salary. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Leftist filmmaker Ken Loach directs this grim drama about the plight of seemingly invisible office cleaners in contemporary L.A. who often earn as little as $6 a day without benefits. The film opens as Maya (Pilar Padilla), a young Mexican lass, is reuniting with her older sister Rosa (Elpidia Carrilio) in L.A. after a harrowing cross-border journey. Rosa sets her sister up first with a job as a barmaid, which Maya soon quits after getting repeatedly groped -- and then as a janitor. When her boss demands one month's salary as "commission," Maya happens upon Sam Shapiro (Adrien Brody), a muckraking lawyer and union agitator. This film, which was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, is remarkable for its prescience -- it was shown a month after a massive janitor's strike ground L.A.'s business community to a halt. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Writer/director John Sayles once again takes his audience to a place they may never have been before (this time both psychologically and geographically). Joe Gastineau (David Strathairn) lives in Juneau, Alaska, where his life has been stuck in neutral for about 25 years. When he was young, Joe was involved in an accident on a fishing boat that led to the death of two crewmembers, and he's never recovered from the blow. When Joe meets Donna De Angelo (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), however, he starts to come out of his shell. Donna is a lounge singer who goes from job to job, wherever she can get work. Her life has been built around being able to pick herself up when she falls and learning to be comfortable wherever she lands -- a gift that her teenage daughter, Noelle (Vanessa Martinez), does not share. Donna and Joe become attracted to each other, and her example leads Joe to take a job on a boat again. However, just as Joe's life is starting to get back on track, his ne'er-do-well half-brother Bobby (Casey Siemaszko) arrives to ask Joe a favor. One disaster leads to another, and Joe soon finds himself stranded on an island with Donna and Noelle, trying to hide from a group of men out to kill him. Shot on location in Alaska by award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, Limbo also features a soundtrack with a new song by Bruce Springsteen, "Lift Me Up"; Sayles directed three Springsteen music videos in the 1980s. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The magic of folklore forms the basis of this Irish tale by writer-director John Sayles. Adapted from the book Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, the 1940s story is told from the point-of-view of Fiona (Jeni Courtney), a young girl sent to live with her grandparents in an Irish fishing town. Her grandfather weaves grand stories about the family's evacuation from their home on the tiny island of Roan Inish and about his great-great grandfather, who once cheated death at the hands of the unforgiving sea. As she meets other villagers, Fiona hears even more personal stories about an uncle who married a beautiful, part-human/ part-seal and about how the sea stole her baby brother during the departure from Roan Inish. Later, Fiona believes that she has found Jamie romping in the grass on Roan Inish, and she must convince the family of her vision. While Roan Inish has the feel of a family film, it shares with other Sayles works a character who learns history through storytelling, such as Sam Deeds in Lone Star (1996) and Dr. Fuentes in Men with Guns (1997). Sayles builds cohesive stories from multiple voices, showing the importance of oral history and indicating that learning the past can alter the future. ~ Norm Schrager, Rovi

John Goodman is cast as the Sultan of Swat, whose excesses -- especially drinking -- and private demons can (in this context) be excused in view of his genuine love of baseball. The facts never get in the way of a good story for screenwriter John Fusco; we're even offered the umpteenth rehash of "Little Johnny", the largely fanciful tale of the invalid boy who promises to get well if Babe hits him a homer (as in Pride of the Yankees, the cured Johnny makes return a appearance as grownup). The most amusing fabrication is the casting of narrow James Cromwell as the Babe's orphanage mentor Brother Mathias, who in real life weighed 300 pounds. Many of the characters are composites, notably Bruce Boxleitner's Jumpin' Joe Dugan. At least Ruth's two wives--Trini Alvarado as Helen, who suffers Babe's many peccadilloes and dies under strange circumstances, and Kelly McGillis as Claire, who keeps Babe on a very short leash-are depicted with a modicum of accuracy. The baseball sequences are well handled (though there could have been less slo-mo) while Elmer Bernstein's charmingly old-fashioned musical score is right in tune with the film's approach to its subject. The Babe is rated PG; had this been the whole truth and nothing but, and R rating would probably have been in order. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi