1974 Directed by Alan J. Pakula
An ambitious reporter, investigating a senator's assassination, realizes witnesses to the shooting are systematically dying and discovers a multi-million dollar corporation which serves as a front for the recruitment of political assassins.
Warren Beatty Hume Cronyn William Daniels Paula Prentiss Kenneth Mars Kelly Thordsen Earl Hindman Anthony Zerbe Walter McGinn Jim Davis Bill McKinney William Joyce Bettie Johnson Doria Cook-Nelson William Jordan Ted Gehring Lee Pulford Chuck Waters Alma Beltran Edward Winter Stacy Keach, Sr. Ford Rainey Richard Bull Jo Ann Harris Joan Lemmo
A Trama
earthtone suits muffle brutalist chill silencer a pane of glass for-profit assassin backwards masked patsy factory outside/above the frame receipts accountable recedes into darkness invisible hand an iron fist
You watch a movie like this and let the credits slip by as you sit in silent darkness. The hum of the movie still hangs in the air long after its finished and it feels like the only appropriate thing to do is take a long walk through the barely populated night of a one a.m. stroll.
[Notes from a larger paper for students]
A film like The Parallax View is an example of a studio-financed, independent production. Its executive producer, Gabriel Katzka, ran his own company and co-produced with all of the major studios during the 1970s (as well as co-producing a kung fu film with Hong Kong’s Shaw Bros). Pakula himself began as a producer at Columbia Pictures in the 1950s, but formed his own producing-directing team with Robert Mulligan to make films like To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal, 1962) and Baby, The Rain Must Fall (Paramount, 1965). But even when he became his own director as well, Pakula never remained with a single studio. Warner Bros. produced both of Pakula’s other “paranoia films,” Klute…
The Parallax View perfectly manifests why the 1970s is my most treasured decade in film history. The next lines are not a review of the movie, but a kind of tribute to American New Wave cinema. If you want to hear me raving in a dramatic but completely honest manner about how fucking exceptional the decade was, just go ahead and read on. Every word came from the bottom of my heart.
When someone asks me what this or that '70s movie is about, I tell them : 'You know, sometimes less is more. Synopses are useless; the importance of the raw story dwindles and atmosphere takes over. The surface only exists for the sake of the depth underneath. It's…
With Watergate providing ammunition to feed the creative juices of directors and writers in Hollywood, Alan Pakula reached back a little further for the second part of his paranoia trilogy. It serves as a critique of the Warren Commission's findings from almost a decade earlier, a report that always seemed destined to deliver pre-determined answers, rather than the truth.
The apparent whitewash sowed the seeds for the decades of conspiracy theories around the assassination of John F Kennedy that were to follow. Pakula grows one of these into his own take on the rumours, placing Warren Beatty at the heart trying to track down the truth.
He plays investigative reporter Joseph Frady who works for a small-time newspaper. We first…
Haven’t seen this in a bit. Forgot just how good it is, in particular the photography, and in particular the mind-fuck “test” section, and in particular in particular the absolutely bonkers good final sequence.
'This is an announcement, there will be no questions' is the final line of The Parallax View, and it could not be more apt in summing up a film deep rooted in post-Watergate paranoia. Alan J. Pakula delivers a fairly compact thriller with a long reach, tapping carefully into corporate conspiracy as he seeks to bring forth the growing mistrust of the age in political power, and the consequences of too many unknown figures being given too much reach into the lives of ordinary Americans. Warren Beatty's journalist everyman could well be us, caught up in a situation we don't full understand filled with an ominous sense of danger, which Pakula threads across the tapestry of his film. The result…
this is good n all but i think with conspiracy thrillers i prefer info-dense stories about learning new things to this sorta vague, paranoid spy/action shit - a movie like JFK has a twitchy, curious vibe that mimics the actual psyche of going "down the rabbit hole" so while nobody's ever in any actual personal danger (imagine jim garrison in a car chase!) laurie metcalf sitting at an office table describing a photograph for 8 minutes feels more exciting than anything in this. i guess the political/psychological aspects here are so big & important that it feels cheap to break for a bar fight or clever cinematic trick? file under well-made disinfo
A 1970s political thriller that features a magnetic lead performance and sure-handed direction, Alan J. Pakula's "The Parallax View" may not be as significant as some of its genre contemporaries; but it is, nonetheless, an engrossing and well made piece of work. Shot in manner that builds distrust and slow-pulling tension, the film is visually compelling and narratively engaging.
"The Parallax View" is built around a reporter investigating a shadowy company's connection to the assassination of a Washington lawmaker. The story itself is straightforward, but Pakula delivers it in a way that shakes its audience with subtle and unsubtle violence, jolting reveals, and an ill-at-ease tone. He builds a world where no one can be trusted, and his protagonist is…
If you shot a film noir in color this is what it would look like. Every frame is covered in shadow and saturated with darkness, externalizing the inner troubles of the characters and twisted corruption of the events portrayed. The plot is your typical paranoid conspiracy theorist's wet dream, a story built on the idea that the law is an insufficient condition to bring about justice. Warren Beatty effectively plays the vigilante journalist driven to the edge by his convictions and his pursuit of the truth.
It's good, check it out if you like 70's political thrillers.
Alan J. Pakula is a master of the political thriller and The Parallax View further cements that.
Taking real life elements like the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and the faulty Warren Commission, The Parallax View is a thrilling investigation into the dark world of government coverups, mysterious murders, and political assassinations that will leave the viewer on the edge of their seat. Pakula crafts an atmosphere of uneasy paranoia as Beatty’s reporter character searches for a truth that is bigger than he can handle. Even if he tries he will be dominated by those in power who are always one step ahead.
“As American as Apple Pie”
Not my favorite of the Pakula/Willis films - it gets weirdly Dukes of Hazzard for a bit - but unquestionably gorgeous. I actually like how it doesn't go too far into explaining what conspiracies abound while remaining deeply paranoid.
A fascinating document from a time when assassinations seemed like they would just keep happening regularly. I recognize that this pioneered stuff that would end up in a lot of other political thrillers and that’s why it feels kind of unoriginal, but even still I would say it’s not as good as something like THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR.
It's one of my favorite political conspiracy films. The suspense in this is anxiety inducing.
Surprisingly well-conceived political thriller. The slideshow scene was something else.
Even when he plays a schlub on wheels Warren Beatty still wears the crown of king shit.
A truly excellent conspiratorial thriller! Pakula's finest film in my opinion. Highly recommended! 👍
Solid political thriller. It’s a little more outlandish than Klute or All The President’s Men, but it’s just as exciting. Shoutout to Gordon Willis’ great cinematography as usual, and the awesome tense score.
Rented on iTunes
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