Gordon Willis, ASC on THE PARALLAX VIEW (Alan J. Pakula, 1974) 

The Parallax View is a movie that is all but forgotten by far too many people. It’s an absolute classic. With a bigger budget it could have been a wider known landmark.

Movie made an impactful memory when I was very young. Most notably the ending (the red/white/blue, related it to dutch flag back then), and the scaffolding (rafters), and the sense of scale. Movie is a visual/artistic masterpiece.

This is one of my favorite movies from the 70s. Willis contrasted deep darkness and bright light throughout this film. The film looked very modern for it's time. So many distance shots, with the main character usually isolated in the center or on the far side. Pakula, Willis and Beatty are superb here. The music by Micheal Small matched the creepiness of the film. The Parallax View is as timely today as it ever was,

Great insights on framing, exposure, and cutting. Thank you!

I can't stop listening to this guy. What a man!

he is brilliant, loved this movie and need to watch it again!

I hadn't heard that he'd passed, this is a really great interview.

Some films are so spectacular, you wish you’d never seen it. Because, once you’ve seen it, you know you can never have that unique experience again. Fabulous films are a truly wonderful experience. The Parallax View is one of those films.

One of the best movies of that time period. Very strong in conveying the message through images. Some scenes were a bit longer perhaps but therefore requiring to look more "into" the scene, and living it through with a different speed. Very memorable movie.

Great interview. Thank you.

Thanks so much for sharing this! Could listen to this guy talk all day

Wow, thank you for posting this. TPV is one of the best movies of all time

Very interesting listening to this guy talking about one of my favourite films. Thanks for the upload 👍

BRILLIANT. Thank you 🙏

I like that Willis is so willing to criticize his own work and be honest about what he would've liked to change

Such beautiful cinematography

Great movie, one of my all-time favorites.

quality content always - thank you!

"I just love figures in space, surrounded by an environment." Hello, Antonioni....

What makes this such a great insight into filmmaking is that he acknowledges his mistakes and what he doesn't like. Even after years of experience, great filmmakers can still mess up sometimes.

Very interesting. Thanks.

Insane that he wasn't nominated for Godfather 1 and 2.

I watched Malice recently and this gentleman's name was on it. 1993. Good film.

master

Wow thanks man. ❤️

This movie need more attention

Another fave seen moons ago i like warren

such a good movie.

the music score ,if there is one,can "suggest",or enhance the atmospherics (duh)of the scene .In this genre , like 1975's Marathon Man , Don Ellis provide the perfect aural surreality for the narrative's dark revelations .

Great performance by Beattie, too

I spotted what might be a sly fleeting reference to the late Queen of Conspiracy Theorists. Around the 49-minute mark Joe Frady shows up in the office of his editor, Bill Rintels. Frady opens a newspaper and we see a big ad for I. Magnin, the upscale store founded by the great-grandparents of Mae Brussell (née Magnin). From the description of her biography: "Mae was a wealthy socialite, but on the day JFK was shot in Dallas, her whole life changed and she became obsessed with trying to find the truth as to who killed him, what their links were to notorious Nazis brought to the U.S. during Operation Paperclip, and how it played into a larger conspiracy of rising fascism in America."

And True.

I get genuinely scared when his ex-girlfriend turns up dead. Fantastic stuff.

I agree with Willis' sense of discomfort over the barroom slugfest. It didn't belong in this picture. Neither did the extended Smokey and the Bandit car chase. Both scenes looked like something insisted upon by studio execs. The film deserved better treatment than that. The Parallax View is a superb piece of work marred by those two lapses into vulgar commercial excess.

❤️❤️

❤️

the key is when he says "and true" this weekend showed this is still happening... they found another patsy and instead of Parallax it was Blackrock this time

6:00 I wonder how many skyscrapers have been built on that land in the las 50 years?

Director killed in freak accident needless to say.

Dreadfully under-viewed film. Download ASAP and get strapped in. A much over looked classic.

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Trump 2024

Why are there fake scratches on this "film?"