THE PARALLAX VIEW – 1974
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
Starring Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn, Kelly Thordsen, Chuck Waters, Earl Hindman, and Hume Cronyn
Genre: Conspiracy Thriller (Audio clip)
This was my second time watching this though I actually found it much more engrossing. This is a conspiracy thriller which is very methodical, VERY 1970's paranoid and beautifully shot with a strong unusually relaxed performance from Warren Beatty as the lead protagonist Joseph Frady....a small-time Oregon news reporter who tries to uncover the mystery behind the death of a US Senator along with several others who were peripherally involved with said Senator. Even though tons of wild stuff keeps happening to his character, Beatty is honestly not given much to do besides let the plot unfold all around him....but that DOES seem to be the point and he acquits himself well.
I wish I could say I found the climax more affecting and maybe if I had first seen this in theaters upon its initial release 50 years ago (and before dozens of other conspiracy thrillers which would follow it), I would have....but it's just very telegraphed. :/ Beyond that there are just might too many more memorable (and genuinely nutty) sequences which precede it. For one, there is a brief but harrowing opening sequence set at the top of the Seattle Space Needle which effectively sets a foreboding tone for the story which follows.
And that's pretty much this movie in a nutshell. The overall story often feels remote as we alternate between inventive set-pieces involving Joseph and his dramatically different interactions with a couple of other key characters, mainly his trusting editor played sharply by the late great Hume Cronyn AND the apparent "Recruiter" for Parallax who keeps following up quietly with Joseph. That would be the mysterious Jack Younger played eloquently by the late Walter McGinn (he sadly passed just a couple of years after filming this at the age of 40 :() who steals every one of his scenes with an eerie performance carried by the soft tone of his voice.
Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):
As was the case with other paranoid thrillers from this era, this is a relatively quiet film with very little music heard throughout. Regardless, the music that we do hear is quite effective and that would be from the late, great NYC native Michael Small. And apparently, providing eerie, minimalist scores for paranoia thrillers in the ‘70’s SEEMED to be his forte as he also composed music for Klute, The Stepford Wives, The Driver, Night Moves, along with previous episodes The China Syndrome, AND….Marathon Man. The latter of which actually has a pretty similar score no less. (Audio clip)
Yeah we’re definitely going for that disquieting vibe aren’t we? We mainly hear this at the beginning and end of this movie along with at least one suspense setpiece….just a non-melodic orchestra phrase punctuated with some high-pitched piano and horns – this is pretty much the main theme but is also known as “The Parallax Commission.” (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
I’m going to take this category in an ENTIRELY different direction so just bear with me – we just had the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of Captain America: The Winter Soldier….a film in that franchise which is BELOVED by the fanbase, the general public, the critics….pretty much every one but me. Not say to that it’s bad….it’s not, I just always found it merely ok. But if there was ONE aspect which has always stuck in my craw about that movie….and sorry to all of the hopelessly indoctrinated MCU fans out there but if you're checking this out with the hopes of it being 'Winter Soldier '74, you're going to be SORELY disappointed: no self-aware mainframe computers to explain the plot, no deus ex digital face-masks, no helicarriers smashing into skyscrapers resulting in ZERO casualties, and sorry....none of the myriad of folks who are assassinated in this film are magically brought back to life for the third act. :/ Both films involve conspiracies in their plots and the similarities pretty much END there....sorry I just had to get that off of my chest.
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
But for me, the highlight probably occurs about halfway through: by this point, this movie has already racked up an impressive body count. And yet this particular sequence features no violence...it's all about training as Joseph has "allowed" himself to be recruited by the shadowy Parallax Corporation. :o And once he has proceeded past their initial testing period, he has been invited there to privately view a repetitive training (or brainwashing?) reel of images which run the gamut from famous tyrants to various current world leaders to comic book characters to images of murder to images of naked adults copulating....ALL set to this folksy Americana score playing overhead.
And throughout, we keep cutting to an occasional black screen highlighting ONE key word such as LOVE, MOTHER, FATHER, HAPPINESS or COUNTRY. :/ Now we have seen sequences along these lines going back decades all the way back to the "de-programming" montage forced on Alex just a couple of years prior in A Clockwork Orange. What somewhat sets this one apart is that the individual watching it is kept in the shadows. We don't see ANY reactions from Joseph, the whole presentation just SITS there, inviting the viewer to process it on their own.
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
Of course special props MUST go to DP legend Gordon Willis (The Godfather Trilogy) for all of those fantastic wide shots...dude just ruled the '70's! The late great Willis contributed a great deal of atmosphere to this story. And that's the thing about this movie: even when you can't grasp the narrative, it just becomes more about the overall VIBE of grim hopelessness which starts to envelope our protagonist.
Overall, the biggest kudos still have to go to director Alan J. Pakula for just nailing that tense vibe SO well with his selection of shots, his transitions, the performances he keys in from most of the main cast. And it’s all the more impressive that he pulls this off with a narrative which is FILLED to the brim with varying locations and a variety of incidents…..I mean we’ve got bar fights, looney car chases, brawls on rapid waters, tense airplane bomb setpieces….it’s ALL effectively shot but it never feels cathartic or just for the sake of spectacle. It just keeps our protagonist on his toes throughout….along with audience. If nothing else, you could even consider this a tasty appetizer to his more grounded meal of a true-crime masterpiece to come two years later, All the Presidents Men. :) For delivering an effective thriller VERY much of its time, Alan J. Pakula is the MVP.
Final Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Streaming on hoopla, kanopy, and Showtime TV
And that ends another LONE GUNMAN review!
