Article written by Trevor Knapp

The Parallax View is a 1974 American political thriller film produced and directed by Alan J. Pakula, and starring Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels and Paula Prentiss. The screenplay by David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr. was based on the 1970 novel^[1] by Loren Singer. The story concerns a reporter’s investigation into a secretive organization, the Parallax Corporation, whose primary focus is political assassination.

Running Time: 102 Minutes

I just saw this film for the first time recently, and in the wake of our recent United States Holiday, I could not resist writing about a movie that involves political thrills 🙂

So, this movie blew me away a bit – one reason being how well-written the story is, and another with how gripping the cinematography is with hypnotizing you. The Parallax View begins with an assassination and ends with an assassination, but everything that happens in between makes you question what is really going on under the surface. Who is in control of the situation that continuously unfolds scene by scene? When do the leading players of the story start getting strung along onto the paths set out for them? Do the people in the shadows know how everything will play out from the beginning? Is it futile to try to fight these powers that be?

I don’t want to give too much away from this film’s story, as you just need to see the power behind the message of what is being shown. And what we are being shown… is it actually real? Or part of the brainwashing that takes place? At the end of the day, what the film suggests is that we as everyday people are only seeing “the tip of the iceberg”.