We have the honour of bringing you a release from an Australian label Imprint, after so many of you reached out to ask us to cover their outstanding releases. Within the textures of THE PARALLAX VIEW is the distressing fear that nothing is quite in your control. We live in an age of the conspiracy theory, then as now, it seems that business, governments and broader state apparatus is some how colluding to execute a dubious plan. Unlike much of the absurd and frankly moronic layering of the Covidioits today, Warren Beatty’s character Joseph Frady descends into the rabbit hole to find that what he is chasing is bigger than a fluffy white bunny. Having been a reporter at the periphery of the assassination of a political candidate, he becomes compelled to investigate three years later when a former love interest Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss) dies after telling him of a bunch of other sudden deaths of those who attended that day. They all seem to have met with an accident, often in a secluded place. Frady digs deeper into the mess, he disappears. Fakes his death and his editor Bill Rintels (Hume Cronyn), in on the act, is his only connections to the real world. Where this ends we all know, but with a 4K transfer and lots of new extras to examine, lets see what extra comes in.
This in the end is what you are wanting to know. Should you upgrade that DVD for the Criterion collection release version from the US or this one from Oz? So overtures to both Kennedy Assassinations, Bobby and Robert are obvious. In the Criterion collection they went all out, being also as that release is for the US and all this is still close to home. The obviousness of this front and centre approach is Alex Cox layering the ages conspiracy theories and films into the winding narrative of the hulk that is THE PARALLAX VIEW. Imprint move a way away from this. They have decided to execute a grand stand. A grand statement maybe about what alternatives can be but does it stand up?
Image
Criterion 5/5
Imprint 5/5
Same great 4K restoration in honesty. It has the focal cleaned up. The colour pallet brightened and no lost of that lovely darkness in the later scene that turned to fuzz via the DVD. There is no booklet
Extras
Criterion 4/5
Imprint 4/5
Well as mentioned the US version had a real bent toward the conspiracy theory conversation and the visual planes. Not only Cox but also the conversations with director Alan J Pakula (pre recorded over two instances). Here we get academic types talking the whole shape of the time, from the political and social events in film with Lyons, to the very good and over arching development of the genre by Newman (who has a bank card in his pocket the whole time almost like he wants to check his balance at the end to see he got paid!) and then Matthew Sweet brings it all home with a merge of the actually Manchurian Candidate Korean panic stories to the fear of the states reach with Nixon. The essay in the Criterion and Gordon Wills make it a better bet for the film academic but the imprint extra by Chris O’Neill is as equal to all of that for the film fan. The narrative drive of all is more about the films place in our culture and the origin story that crafted and in truth guided the journey pre and post it.
PACKAGE AND PRICE
Criterion 4.5/5
Imprint 5/5
Imprint take the day solely on the price point and the stream lined package. They both are worth buying, but Imprint just have given the film less and oddly added more without being fixated on the regional specific.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K restoration from the 35mm original camera negative
NEW Audio commentary by film historian Kevin Lyons (2021)
NEW Audio commentary by film critic/podcast producer Blake Howard (2021)
NEW Kim Newman on The Parallax View and conspiracy thrillers (2021)
NEW Matthew Sweet on The Parallax View (2021)
NEW Witness To A Conspiracy – video essay by Chris O’Neill (2021)
Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
Optional English subtitles
Limited Edition slipcase on the first 2000 copies with unique artwork
