E-Mail This Article to a Friend TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE

Cinematographer Haskell Wexler had his hand in some of the most remarkable American films of the 20th century: he directed the cult classic Medium Cool and collaborated with Elia Kazan, Milos Forman, and Francis Ford Coppola. But Wexler is equally known among his colleagues for his irascible temperament and outspoken political trumpeting, attributes that got him fired from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Conversation mid movie. In this deliciously messy documentary, Wexler’s son Mark bares (and bears) both the professional and the personal angles of his father’s renegade style in a balanced portrait of artistic genius and artless demeanor. Chronicling his father from privileged childhood to anti-war agitations (including films on the Weather Underground and that trip Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden made to Hanoi) through his current professional difficulties and megalomaniac rages, Mark illustrates a résumé of a career, but he also writes a diary of a man and a relationship in progress. During filming, Haskell berates Mark for flubbed camera positions and faulty sound equipment and turns the lens on his son several times. Mark doesn’t hide his disappointment in his father, but neither does he edit out his own weaknesses. Equal parts fan mail and home video from Hell, Tell Them Who You Are is a fascinating piece of father-son psychotherapy à la Hollywood. (95 minutes)