The Parallax view [NTSC]

The second film in Pakula’s “paranoia” trilogy (falling between “Klute” (1971) and “All the President’s Men” (1976), is a disquieting suspense thriller that refers directly to conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination. After a presidential candidate is assassinated, witnesses to the seemingly random crime begin dying mysteriously, including the girlfriend of a political journalist. The journalist’s investigation into the deaths uncovers a conspiracy of huge proportions that has at its centre a covert organisation known as the Parallax Corporation. He infiltrates the organisation becoming increasingly isolated and paranoid as he is drawn more deeply into its elaborate machinations. Pakula’s repeated use of opaque structures that partially obscure the screen, white-outs, off-kilter shots and disorientating editing patterns point to the impossibility of gaining access to any objective truth in this claustrophobic world where the line between reality and perception can no longer be discerned. The bleakest of the trilogy it was, unlike the other two films, a box-office failure. Cast: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Kenneth Mars, Walter, McGinn, Kelly Thordsen, Jim Davis.