Though he made his best films in an era when auteurism was redefining American cinema, Alan J. Pakula never quite landed (or sought) the name recognition of peers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, or William Friedkin.
Most famous for “All the President’s Men” (1976) and “Sophie’s Choice,” (1982) Pakula built a career focused on the fateful decisions we make and rules we break—both as characters on screen and behind the camera.
With Criterion Collection adding “The Parallax View” (1974) to its stable on Feb. 9, Be Reel takes the opportunity to dive into Pakula’s conspiracy/mystery standouts.
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To begin with “Klute,” (1971), Pakula focuses on an actor-turned-sex-worker (Jane Fonda), who may have received the final correspondence from a disappeared chemical executive. Then, in “The Parallax View,” a down-and-out journalist (Warren Beatty) trains his attention on a shady corporation that may be recruiting assassins. And finally, we examine “Presumed Innocent” (1990), in which a district attorney (Harrison Ford) rather suspiciously defends himself against charges of murdering a coworker.
Across these titles, Pakula is as daringly creative as he is fastidious, staging compelling mysteries in which audiences, slowly but surely, begin to feel the inescapable strangeness of human error. Of course, we talk a little “All The President’s Men” (one must!), but we also cordially invite you to find a longer review of that classic in our William Goldman episode.
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