The Parallax View Analysis

One of the unique aspects of cinema is its ability to recreate moments of history while demonstrating politics and social attitudes of the time. Regardless of the content being utterly accurate in recounting true events or displaying fictionalized stories, cinema unveils social concerns in relation to the politics of the time. Aside from that, changes in cinematic techniques and filmmaking styles is synthesized with the content of the time that shapes a profound understanding of socio-political landscape. Through its visual and textual elements, cinema passes on knowledge to the viewers of later generations about events that they never experienced. The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan J. Pakula with the screenplay by David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (based on a novel by the same name by Loren Singer) is a highly stylized and disturbing political thriller that intents to depict social distrust in government and explores the possibility of a corporation recruiting political assassins. Under Pakula’s direction, The Parallax View has a Hitchcockian style of suspense and uncertainty.
The film opens with a political assassination of a Senator at the Seattle Space Needle in front of many attendees and reporters. The audience is given the privilege of seeing that there is …show more content…
The screenplay, written by William Goldman based on the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, gives the audience a first-hand account of their investigation. Furthermore, the style of the filmmaking is drastically different from Pakula’s The Parallax View, the scenery and direction are realistic and documentary-like, which ultimately helps the film succeed in its intent to inform the