Return to Blow Out

I'm guessing that the Brian DePalma fan club isn't what it used to be. 30 years ago his admirers, led by Pauline Kael, were legion. I was one of the faithful after his early to mid '70s run ending with Carrie, but I began running hot and cold throughout the '80s and '90s, and didn't really get off the boat until Mission to Mars ('00) -- that, for me, was the final deal-breaker.


I know that my first stirrings of doubt in DePalma began with The Fury ('78) and then started to really take root with Blow Out ('81), a ripoff of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up ('67).

All I saw in the former, a paranoid political thriller with John Travolta and Nancy Allen, was an attempt at construction that never finally felt complete. Push the button, yank the chain. DePalma has never been much of a story-teller. It's a cliche to say this but he's always been a guy who lives for elaborate camera choreography as an end it itself. To me the characters and especially the dialogue in his films have always felt hackneyed and hand-me-downish.

What was the old Michael O'Donoghue line from Saturday Night Live around this time? "Every year Brian DePalma picks the bones of a dead director and gives his wife [Allen at the time] a job."

Am I interested in watching this forthcoming Criterion Bluray version when it arrives on 4.28.11? Yeah. Maybe it'll play better than it did the one and only time I saw it in a New York screening room during the first year of Ronald Reagan's presidency. But it's telling, obviously, that I haven't felt the slightest interest in catching it again. My memory is a little hazy, but I think I was somewhere between unimpressed and pissed-off when I first saw Blow Out. I just couldn't get past the fact that Antonioni's version had sunk in and stayed in my head while DePalma's evaporated the second it ended.

[Filed from the air, 34,000 feet above Ohio.]

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 18, 2011 at 2:29 PM

comment #1

pmn Author Profile Page says ...

Blow Out holds up pretty well, in my opinion. With the exception of some real hammy acting from Dennis Franz and, of course, the fact that Nancy Allen never could act.

Lotta turkeys on DePalma's filmography, though. No two ways about it. Looking it over, it seems the only film of his I've re-watched with any regularity is Scarface.

Posted by pmn Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 3:16 PM

comment #2

Jeffrey Wells Author Profile Page says ...

All hail Scarface, now and forever.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 3:28 PM

comment #3

Jake Killion Author Profile Page says ...

I'm not with you on this one at all. DePalma's movies simply ooze with a love of cinema, from montage to lighting to composition to score to performance. Even the few I don't really jibe with (THE BLACK DAHLIA for one) are interesting and injected with so much thought and energy as to be essential.

How many filmmakers have as many CLASSIC sequences and moments in their films as his? The split screen massacre in CARRIE. The opening of SISTERS. The chainsaw scene in SCARFACE. Angie Dickinson in the museum in DRESSED TO KILL. Cruise dangling from the roof of the room in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. The stairs sequence in THE UNTOUCHABLES. The heist in FEMME FATALE. The subway finale of CARLITO'S WAY. He's a filmmaker unafraid to flex his muscles and indulge in a rather perverse, unabashed love affair with film. I know you can argue that he's a director of moments and not complete narratives, but is storytelling really the only mark of a great director? And what moments they are!

Posted by Jake Killion Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 3:59 PM

comment #4

MilkMan Author Profile Page says ...

Blow-Out and Cutter's Way are the last great movies of the 1970s.

Greetings, Hi, Mom!, Obsession, Phantom of the Paradise, Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, Body Double, Raising Cain, Femme Fatale. He was, at one time, one of the great, and only political satirists working in Hollywood.

Anyone who likes early DePalma should check out Reg Harkema's LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL. Best movie made yet about the Manson Murders.

Richard Kelly should be smacked in the face for referencing Blow Out in The Box. Kelly's got half of DePalma's chops and none of his smarts.

And anyone who thinks DePalma is a hack doesn't know shit about what it takes to be a filmmaker. Ask Spielberg and Scorsese and Coppola is DePalma is a hack. See what they say.

Posted by MilkMan Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:08 PM

comment #5

Hollis Mulwray Author Profile Page says ...

DePalma succeeds when he directs and is kept away from screen writing chores. Mamet and Stone gave him great material with Untouchables and Scarface. I began to lose faith in Brian with Raising Cain and Snake Eyes. The Black Dahlia truly put the icing on the cake. I can recall being stunned several times by its awfulness while sitting alone in a suburban multiplex. The reviews for Redacted firmly put it on a pay no mind list. Flash in the pan?

Posted by Hollis Mulwray Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:08 PM

comment #6

Tristan Eldritch2 Author Profile Page says ...

DePalma has a lot to answer for, but Blow Out holds up pretty well. Its not in the same league as Blow Up, or The Conversation for that matter, but it's a pretty interesting picture in its own right. Mission to Mars exposed the sheer bloody minded tenacity of DePalma admirer/apologists.

Posted by Tristan Eldritch2 Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:15 PM

comment #7

jimtheindiefilmmaker Author Profile Page says ...

A Criterion blu-ray of "Blow Out" is not really a necessity. However, a Criterion blu-ray of his most original (and perhaps best film), "Phantom of the Paradise" would be a dream come true!

Posted by jimtheindiefilmmaker Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:15 PM

comment #8

Rashad Author Profile Page says ...

Blow Out is simply an amazing film. An ode to moviemaking. How can someone not love the ending of using an actual murder scream for a movie, and Travolta sitting their all tortured listening to it? This will be the only Criterion I pay normal price for.

I never get why Carlitio's Way is never brought up. I love it more than Scarface.

Posted by Rashad Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:18 PM

comment #9

corey3rd Author Profile Page says ...

"When did Hitchcock reference Battleship Potemkin so Brian DePalma could rip it off?"

question to a sound editor showing off the big shoot out scene in The Untouchables.

Posted by corey3rd Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:19 PM

comment #10

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

I totally agree with pmn. DePalma is a bit hit-or-miss -- sometimes even in the same film -- but Blow Out definitely remains one of his masterworks, IMHO. If you want to reimagine a film, this is what it should look like. One of the handful of tolerable performances Travolta has given in his entire career. Yeah, Nancy Allen is terrible, but you can't really ruin a BDP flick with bad supporting acting (in fact, sometimes it even enhances the material, oddly enough).

Milkman -- I liked that reference in The Box. Why should be belabor Richard Kelly when -- not to go all DZ on you -- DePalma clearly "stole" almost all of his inspiration from the movies, and not real life? The more I think about it, the more those two filmmakers have in common, aesthetically speaking. And I would argue that neither of them is particularly "smart" (I think the one real time when the latter tried to play it that way he left us with Bonfire of the Vanities; we all know how that turned out).

Hope you're enjoying the wi-fi'd flight, Jeff -- you're over my state (or were, at any rate)!

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:22 PM

comment #11

JR Author Profile Page says ...

The Black Dahlia is so freaking bad - literally the worst movie I saw in the last decade - that I can't believe it came from the same director who gave us Scarface, Carlito's Way, Carrie, and Dressed to Kill...also liked Mission Impossible....never was a big fan of Blow Out, though...

Posted by JR Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:23 PM

comment #12

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

I would also like a brief dissertation on how DePalma is a "political satirist." I mean, he may very well be, but this element has never come through in his films to me AT ALL.

In fact, whenever I watch one of his films, I'm always struck by how little seems to be going on underneath the surface (or, as Jake Killion puts it, "he's a director of moments"). That's where I always felt the ubiquitous Hitchcock comparisons were misguided, frankly. In Alfred's work, there was usually -- almost always -- a barely-concealed, subtextual narrative unfolding right alongside the "real one" unfolding in plain sight.

And the latter was almost always less fascinating than the former.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:32 PM

comment #13

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

The Black Dahlia undoubtedly follows one of Ebert's great tenants of film crit -- only the truly great directors are equally capable of making terrific and terrible movies.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:35 PM

comment #14

Markj74 Author Profile Page says ...

It's all about form with DePalma, and that's ok with me as cinema is primarily a visual medium. It makes me sad that he hasn't made a great flick since Carlito's Way back in '93 though. Snake Eyes and Femme Fatale began promisingly but soon evaporated. I guess Mission:Impossible was passable fun. Everything is relative though, DePalma's Mission:Impossible is a masterpiece compared to the third one helmed by Abrams. In fact you only have to look at those two pictures to see the gulf in talent and cinematic creativity between the last generation of American blockbuster directors and the ones we're saddled with today. Staging and composition have been thrown out the window.

Posted by Markj74 Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:39 PM

comment #15

Big Black Author Profile Page says ...

Jim, just order the excellent region-free blu-ray of Phantom that was released in France last year. You can find it on Amazon.fr with little effort.

Talking shit about DePalma? Man.. Jake's list above is not only an excellent defense of the guy, it's irrefutable proof that the dude was channeling the movie godz on and off for decades. Blow Out is not perfect but I love it, and though I love the Antonioni even more, I think DePalma had the better ending!

Posted by Big Black Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 4:45 PM

comment #16

HarryWarden Author Profile Page says ...

I went on a DePalma kick for a while and own all of his films as a result. He's often brilliant and always visually amazing. Femme Fatale remains a guilty pleasure for me. The heist at the beginning is genius.

Posted by HarryWarden Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:02 PM

comment #17

ScottMendelson Author Profile Page says ...

I've said this a lot, but the first Mission: Impossible plays like an art-house film compared to most of today's action/suspense pictures. It's all about mood, silence, paranoia, etc. It's filled with great moments: the uber-low key pre-credits sequence, the first act massacre, the Henry Cavill interrogation (how did he not get a career as the go-to baddie after this and Clear and Present Danger?), the break-in at Langley, the 'keep away' scene with the 'noc-list', the train finale. It's refreshingly adult in tone and substance, creating maximum suspense with minimum violence.

Ironically the most beautiful scene in the film (the flashback montage that 'explains what happens') is the one that caused everyone to babble about how 'confusing' it is. The mass 'I couldn't follow it' that greeted the film is one of the reasons that so many mainstream films (even Inception) feel the need to hold our hand all the way through. I like all three MI pictures (in descending order) and love that the MI series has become an directors' sandbox, but the first one is a genuine work of art.

As for the rest of De Palma's later output, even the bad stuff is worth watching. The Black Dahlia is trash, but it's gorgeous and stylish trash with at least one great sequence (the patented De Palma 'main character watches/hears someone close to him get murdered but can't stop it' moment in act two). Mission to Mars is goofy, but again, it's well acted, has a few great sequences (the death of -MAIN CHARACTER - is heartbreakingly staged), and actually has (admittedly silly) ideas at its core. Snake Eyes is worth it just for the opening reel. Point being, De Palma may not be at his peak, but he's never become a truly boring filmmaker. I'll take his worst for pure stylish enjoyment over the likes of Prince of Persia any day.

Posted by ScottMendelson Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:07 PM

comment #18

Ray DeRousse Author Profile Page says ...

The Untouchables is my favorite DePalma film; Connery and Costner are great, awesome score, and two really vicious villains. I really like Scarface up until he becomes successful, at which point it loses steam. The rest of his output doesn't catch fire for me.

Posted by Ray DeRousse Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:34 PM

comment #19

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

If one only read markj's responses, one might reasonably surmise that this was a JJ Abrams site and every thread was devoted to praising a flick from his
"legendary" oeuvre.

Okay, bud, you don't like the guy -- we get it. But how about you expand your horizons and start watching some Noe, Balaguero, Edgerton, Ji-woon Kim, Chan-wook Park, or even Nolan (if we must go the blockbuster route) before you try turning every single film conversation into some kind of tired "get off my lawn!" geezer lament about how "dem darn kids just can't shoot like dem good ol' boys."

As always, there's good stuff out there -- arguably moreso than EVER, I'd argue -- but you have to be willing to seek it out. There are some great, young natural born filmmakers out there, but the majority of them don't work in the studio system or get wide releases (at least not at this moment).

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:42 PM

comment #20

London SEO Author Profile Page says ...

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Posted by London SEO Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:43 PM

comment #21

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

"I really like Scarface up until he becomes successful, at which point it loses steam."

LOL. Wellllll, that's certainly a minority opinion!

Jesus Christ, I love Scarface, but if I'm popping it in, I'm almost certainly fast-forwarding through at least the first hour.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:45 PM

comment #22

MilkMan Author Profile Page says ...

Greetings and Hi, Mom! are political, true counterculture films.

I am a huge De Palma fan and even I thought Black Dahlia and Redacted were horrid.

People miss the humor in his films. Carrie is funny. So is Body Double. Intentionally.

How Aronofsky is raised to the level of award-winning filmmaker and DePalma never even got a sniff is absurd to me.

Holy Trinity of 70s directors: DePalma, Friedkin, Ritchie.

Posted by MilkMan Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:46 PM

comment #23

hiviper Author Profile Page says ...

SISTERS had an impact on me when I saw it as a kid. I remember it being pretty creepy, plus a lovely Margot Kidder.

Posted by hiviper Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:51 PM

comment #24

Ray DeRousse Author Profile Page says ...

@ CitizenKaned - I understand what you're getting at ... most of the real theatrics are in the tail end of the film. But I just don't think that last half is edited very well, making it feel flatter. Besides, the early part has so much desperation and cruelty.

Posted by Ray DeRousse Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 5:56 PM

comment #25

Cadavra Author Profile Page says ...

Saw BLOWOUT a coupla years ago and it holds up quite well. RAISING CAIN and FEMME FATALE were and remain enormous fun, the work of a guy who knows exactly what he's doing and revels in it. DAHLIA was definitely a let-down, but that was mostly due to the abominable performances of Scarlet Johansson and Josh Hartnett, the latter being one of the grossest casting mistakes of recent times.

Posted by Cadavra Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:10 PM

comment #26

actionman Author Profile Page says ...

Blow Out. Body Double. Femme Fatale. Three of my all-time favorites.

I also adore Snake Eyes.

Posted by actionman Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:24 PM

comment #27

raygo Author Profile Page says ...

Home for college break in Dec 1980, I watch a lot of Blow Out being filmed in Philadelphia, and also snuck on set during the finale at Penn's Landing, when Travolta is rushing to Nancy Allen's rescue. It was completely magical. A great film. Holds up well. Showed Travolta's promise that wasn't again realized until Pulp Fiction.

Posted by raygo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:34 PM

comment #28

raygo Author Profile Page says ...

P.S. Recall that some of the parade footage filmed in Dec was lost, and had to be reshoot in the Spring. I think you can see some continuity problems between Winter bare trees and spring foliage.

Posted by raygo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:37 PM

comment #29

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

"How Aronofsky is raised to the level of award-winning filmmaker and DePalma never even got a sniff is absurd to me."

Well, you're definitely on-point there. I do think Black Swan is something DePalma could do in his sleep back in his heyday (and indeed, he kinda did with Phantom of Paradise). You're also right about DePalma having a playful sense of humor -- often taking an infectious amount of prurient fun in his cinematic indulgences -- which is something that Aronofsky's definitely lacked in his arsenal up to this point in his career. Has any of his films contained a genuine laugh? The Wrestler contains a few, I guess, but I have no problem chalking that all up to Rourke. He does tend to sap most of the..."fun"(?) out of his movies.

Having said that, I think he was genuinely onto something with The Fountain. Call it sophomoric if you must, but it could very well end up being the gateway to his true future masterpiece. The degree of difficulty task he was attempting in that film -- transcending time itself -- was off the charts, and I honestly didn't feel he missed the mark by that much.

Wolverine project seems like a mistake from the word "go," however. He's far too masochistic a visualist to appeal to mainstream audiences (yes, Black Swan is succeeding, but indie market is generally far more receptive to that kind of aesthetic).

I've seen Hi, Mom!, but it's been awhile. And I haven't seen anything he's done before that, so I guess I need to delve into some of his earlier work for more of an appreciation for his '60s counterculture work.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:51 PM

comment #30

Robert Cashill Author Profile Page says ...

How can BLOW OUT evaporate the second it ended? Simply devastating. De Palma is one of my favorite fllmmakers and REDACTED one of the more compelling examples of "found cinema." Some of my favorite movies are his.

There's a great French Blu of PHANTOM that can be imported.

Posted by Robert Cashill Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:53 PM

comment #31

York "Budd" Durden Author Profile Page says ...

I don't unequivocally love DePalma, but Blow Out, first seen by this movie geek in a theatre by myself with I was 16--where it played like gangbusters--I probably don't have to add, stands tall as one of my favorite moviegoing experiences. First in line to buy this blu-ray.

Posted by York "Budd" Durden Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 6:55 PM

comment #32

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

The ending for this flick really is fantastic, and arguably one of the reasons it tends to sit so favorably in the mind aftewards. I don't even think I'm overselling it to say the conclusion is pretty much the "thriller" answer to the conclusion of Some Like it Hot. Perfection.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 7:01 PM

comment #33

Rashad Author Profile Page says ...

"He's far too masochistic a visualist to appeal to mainstream audiences"

It's Wolverine in Japan fighting Samurais. Violence and the lack of subtlety is what the audience wants.

Posted by Rashad Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 7:18 PM

comment #34

Chase Kahn Author Profile Page says ...

I remember very little of Blow Out, so I'm really looking forward to checking out the Blu-ray.

And I'm not totally up to speed with all of De Palma's stuff, but I like Obsession and Body Double, the latter of which is just a massive 80's pastiche of everything Alfred Hitchcock.

And I'm sure I'm alone of this, but I'm not totally cool with The Untouchables, mostly because of that first hour and Robert De Niro.

And If you're asking me, Black Swan pretty much refutes what's being said about Aronofsky's lack of wit or playfulness. I mean you've got Barbara Hershey and the cake, Portman's drunken night, pretty much everything Mila Kunis says or does, etc. You guys honestly didn't find Black Swan fun?

Posted by Chase Kahn Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 7:25 PM

comment #35

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

"It's Wolverine in Japan fighting Samurais. Violence and the lack of subtlety is what the audience wants."

That is true, but I don't really think Aronofsky shoots violence in a "pleasurable" way. There's rampant drug usage in Requiem for a Dream but it's not exactly a romp like Boogie Nights or the last third of Goodfellas (or even Fear and Loathing in LV, for that matter).

Then again, he's never done a big-budget action movie, so we shall see if he changes his filmmaking style to fit the audience, or at least meets them halfway.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 7:36 PM

comment #36

coxcable Author Profile Page says ...

The test tubes usually break in DePalma films.

The auteur always adds too much "ridiculous" to the mix, which ends up spoiling any final emotional impact. As many have noted, we see his films now to dig out the pearl... the 5 or so minutes out of 120 of pure uncut cinema cocaine. And the pearl is ALWAYS THERE. Even in the excruciating Black Dahlia.

The exception may be The Untouchables which, with the balancing factors of a knockout cast and an ingenious Mamet script, worked as a complete story. Like The Social Network, it's a near perfect balance of strong writing, directing and acting.

Posted by coxcable Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 7:40 PM

comment #37

BobbyLupo Author Profile Page says ...

'Blow Out' is the best De Palma movie, period.

I watched 'Sisters' shortly before seeing 'Black Swan', which was strange (but 'Black Swan' is much better and more consistent). However, for people saying De Palma has no depth, here's a great review of 'Sisters' that I read after seeing it that made me think twice. He does have depth, he just gets at it strangely.
http://criterioncollection.blogspot.com/2009/01/89-sisters.html

And, for the record, saying De Palma is bad at storytelling as Jeff did is absolutely ridiculous. There is still nobody working today who can do a long dialogue-less scene better; that twenty minutes in 'Dressed to Kill', for instance, is pure cinematic storytelling, and I don't like that movie much at all.

Posted by BobbyLupo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 8:20 PM

comment #38

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

Like most of the CC liner notes, that's a pretty interesting essay. Although I think when people say that DePalma lacks depth, I think they're usually implying that his films lack emotional depth (not cinematic, or even narrative, depth). I think that point still holds true.

He's always going to be a divisive director because his style -- at least more often than not -- calls a lot of attention to itself, and echoes films and genres of eras past. Filmmakers and (especially) critics tend to go for that kinda meta, inside-baseball shit a lot more than general audiences, who are normally just looking for relatable characters and a strong emotional throughline they can follow.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 8:38 PM

comment #39

BobbyLupo Author Profile Page says ...

that's not a liner note, the guy is reviewing all of them. In order, I believe.

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood your point about depth before, when you dismissed the political satire for lack of depth. I didn't realize you meant emotional depth, which makes your point very strange, since emotional depth is basically nonexistent in all political satires. That review specifically deals pretty well in the political depth of 'Sisters', I thought.

As for emotion, his movies are almost all high opera. They don't have three-dimensional emotion, but they have over-the-top emotion. They're not robotic. But the real emotion that De Palma is interested in is the audience's emotions. The actors emotions seem to exist largely to get a reaction. But he's not going for "realism", so it's a weak critique about emotional depth.

Posted by BobbyLupo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 8:57 PM

comment #40

YND Author Profile Page says ...

I'm with BobbyLupo on this one -- BLOW OUT is my fave De Palma, bar none. Saw it again as part of a LACMA retrospective a few years back and it held up perfectly. After all the other films I saw there (CARRIE, SISTERS, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, I forget what else...), there was enthusiastic audience applause and the usual whooping, etc. With BLOW OUT, the movie played great all the way through... and then when it ended it was like everybody'd been punched in the gut. Dead silence. This one needs more respect -- super excited for the Criterion disc.

Posted by YND Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:17 PM

comment #41

DonMurphy Author Profile Page says ...

Jeff you are flat wrong. I worked on the campaign for Blow Out, wrote the tag line for the poster even going so far as to insist it was grammatically correct (...all of ITS own). I later programmed it twice at Georgetown where I ran the on campus screenings. It is not Blow-Up and is not trying to be. It is pure DePalma. But he created a mood in this film (and in Dressed to Kill, Carrie and others) using visuals and sound that are brilliant. And no one has mentioned Obsession- a brilliant film. He hasn't done anything worth a damn in 15 years and the Black Dahlia is a pure bowel movement. But when he rocked he rocked, no possible argument. And yes, Phantom rocks with its cock out.

Posted by DonMurphy Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:30 PM

comment #42

BobbyLupo Author Profile Page says ...

to expand my previous thoughts a bit, regarding emotion, this is why his best works tend to be about one of three things:
- Artists
- Crazy people
- Teenagers (at least, in the one case)

Because these are people who you can believe having raw over-the-top emotions like the ones he depicts. Carrie, specifically, is not so much "realistic" in the actions or even the acting, but it taps into how high school *feels* for a lot of people.

Posted by BobbyLupo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:31 PM

comment #43

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

It wasn't a critique about emotional depth. I like DePalma; I thought I made that pretty clear in my above comments. It was simply an observation; I was just trying to give a possible reason as to why audiences aren't as receptive to him as critics are (and they really aren't...go around and ask people in the heartlands "who is Brian DePalma?," and I guarantee you'll get a lot of blank stares even though he's presumably one of the most praised directors of arguably one of the most influential periods of American cinema).

While it's true that BDP is more interested in the emotions of the audience, the mainstream audience normally isn't into those kind of experiments (unless it's under the guise of some novelty horror experiment a la Blair Witch); they just want lose themselves and get wrapped up in someone else's emotional story (The King's Speech, for example).

As for political satire, ummmm I guess I still don't get it. About the only "depth" I gleaned from the essay was that of a cinematic nature -- i.e. BDP sure has seen a lot of thrillers! Are you talking about gender politics? When I think political satire, I think of people that cut deeply into our ingrained socioeconomic ways of life -- guys like Hunter S. Thompson, Paul Verhoeven, Terry Southern, Hal Ashby...Mike Nichols, maybe even Warren Beatty on his good days.

At the end of the day, I don't really think there's really any blatant overarching theme or message to any of DePalma's good films -- Bonfire of the Vanities is incredibly muddled, while I admit I haven't caught up to Redacted yet -- and I mean that in the best possible way. There's quite a bit of that in Scarface, sure, but how much of that is Stone? He's clearly one of the most politicized figures in the movie industry in the past 30 years.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:32 PM

comment #44

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

That's a great point in comment #44. I agree 100% with everything you said there.

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:36 PM

comment #45

BobbyLupo Author Profile Page says ...

"It is not Blow-Up and is not trying to be. "

Yeah, if you want 'trying to be Blow-Up', go buy The Conversation.

I think Blow Out is a better rip-off than any of the De Palma Hitchcock rip-offs because it's taking the very basic idea and making it into a thriller. The Hitchcocks he rips off tend to already be thrillers, and better thrillers than De Palma makes, so adding a coat of De Palma sleeze doesn't do much to them and puts some people off. But taking a straight arty movie and infusing it with tension works brilliantly.

"He hasn't done anything worth a damn in 15 years"

The trailer for 'Femme Fatale' is so brilliant that it makes me want to watch the movie again and see what I missed, but I remember it really feeling like he was going back and ripping off his own best work.

Posted by BobbyLupo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:36 PM

comment #46

BobbyLupo Author Profile Page says ...

"Are you talking about gender politics?"

Gender and racial, yes. To be fair, though, I realized that the review I read that went really in-depth about how 'Sisters' is so not misogynistic that it has to change your view on De Palma's work as a whole, it wasn't that one. (I read quite a few responses after watching it.)

But the political element of 'Blow Out' is pretty obvious, as it is in 'Scarface' and 'Carlito's Way' and 'Casualties of War' and 'Redacted'. Even 'Bonfire', which is a terrible movie, comes alive a little bit when re-enacting Wolfe's best satirical moments. Verhoeven is a good comparison -- there's no "emotional depth" there either.

Posted by BobbyLupo Author Profile Page at January 18, 2011 9:44 PM

comment #47

Markj74 Author Profile Page says ...

@CitizenKaned4Life: I just finished Marketa Lazarova last night, i'll try and find a way to work that into a conversation about DePalma. Happy now? Oh, and just to let you know i've seen every film of Nolan, Noe and Park, so don't ever assume you know anything about my viewing habits. You know what they say about assumption.

Posted by Markj74 Author Profile Page at January 19, 2011 2:39 AM

comment #48

Markj74 Author Profile Page says ...

@CitizenKaned4Life:' "I really like Scarface up until he becomes successful, at which point it loses steam."

LOL. Wellllll, that's certainly a minority opinion!'

Not at all. The early part of the film is by far the strongest.

Posted by Markj74 Author Profile Page at January 19, 2011 2:43 AM

comment #49

Anthony Thorne Author Profile Page says ...

BLOW OUT is a riff on the Kennedy assassination as viewed through the eyes of a fearful, paranoid conspiracist (De Palma in practice, with Travolta acting as proxy), replete with references in dialogue to the Zapruder Film (dryly, Franz's character has trouble remembering the reference), a recreation of the Chappaquidick drowning opening the narrative, and a ruthless black-ops assassin (Lithgow) sequentially destroying evidence and murdering hookers to obscure his eventual snuffing of the key witness (Allen). De Palma sets the film during 'Liberty Day' and uses the fictional holiday to decorate the screen with red/white/blue imagery, then stages [SPOILERS] Allen's final tragic scream in front of a giant American flag, symbolic of national trauma and loss. Travolta's character watches and rewinds the footage just as every Kennedy assassination researcher has done before and since, and the film closes on Travolta defeated, destroyed and shielding his ears from listening to a replay of the tragedy he was unable to prevent. All this gets mixed in with some great De Palma stylistics and a ruthlessly dirty sense of humor whenever the film riffs off the world of low-budget exploitation film-making. I haven't bought a Criterion for ages, but I'll be grabbing the new Blu-Ray the week it streets. To each their own but I also prefer BLOW OUT to BLOW UP, and suspect it also probably eclipses its accomplished giallo cousin, Argento's DEEP RED.

Posted by Anthony Thorne Author Profile Page at January 19, 2011 3:33 AM

comment #50

Rod32303 Author Profile Page says ...

It is, quite simply, a perfect film for me, and my favorite DePalma (though the scene set in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in "Dressed to Kill" is extraordinary) film. Travolta is brilliant, and Allen is fine - she had more to do as the ho in Dressed to Kill, but she has lovely little moments in this. They have a nice rapport. It still, 30 years later, makes me nervous at the thought and the last scene still haunts me. Maybe you had to be OF the generation to love Blow Up as much as those here do...I admire it for its technical audacity and the performances are great, but I didn't FEEL it like I feel Blow Out. I was 17 when I saw it and never ever forgot it.

Posted by Rod32303 Author Profile Page at January 19, 2011 9:22 AM

comment #51

CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page says ...

Markj -- Well, ot's hard not to start making assumptions about your viewing habits when all you ever do is talk -- unprompted, no less -- about fucking Cameron and Abrams in almost every single thread you post in.

So, sincere apologies. What did you think of Enter the Void?

Posted by CitizenKaned4Life Author Profile Page at January 19, 2011 11:52 AM

comment #52

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