Essay Questions

In what way does the film position the greatest threat to America as coming from the inside rather than outside?

Linking the film to a long tradition dating at least as far back as 1936 and the film They Won’t Forget to films of its era like Chinatown and The Dead Zone, Pakula’s film can be interpreted as a warning against the inherent fascist tendencies of democratic capitalism. They Won’t Forget warns that such a deeply cherished democratic institution as a free press can easily become a tool of fascist authoritarianism while Chinatown clearly parallels The Parallax View in situating the nexus between wealth and politics as the crucible in which fascism is forged. The shadowy figures in this movie represent the unspoken fear of many Americans that when capitalist interest in political control reaches a point of no restraint, even those level of protection like freedom of the press and law enforcement can fall victim to a hideously undemocratic ideology.

What cinematic effects does Pakula exploit to increase the conspiratorial tension?

Close scrutiny of the film reveals that in many scenes characters are heard, but not entirely seen. The visual accompaniment to these voices may at times be missing entirely in the form of only hearing and not seeing who is speaking. At other times, the composition of the frame may only include parts of the person who is speaking: their legs or feet. In other cases, an entire body may be present, but the person speaking is half-illuminated in the shadows or is seen through a glass wall. The opposite is also true: we may see a person, but hear them only in whisper, forcing the audience to listen more intently to understand what is being said. Sound proves to be an expressive force for shock and awe: from the low volume of a ticking clock to the sudden roar of water rushing from an opened dam, the viewer is constantly surprised and put on edge, thus contributing to the feeling of paranoia.

How is handsome reporter Warren Beatty anything at all like pathetic loser Lee Harvey Oswald?

At first glance, there appears to be no real connection between Beatty’s reporter character and Oswald, despite the fact that the connection is clearly intended. A more critical view, however, reveals a much deeper and stronger connection that might be assumed. The first thing to get past is the acceptance that Oswald was a pathetic loser. Oswald was a true believer in the communist cause and was capable of fluently outlining his position as he famous did on a talk show debate. It is this outsider status that believes in the critique of democracy most fervently aligns with Beatty’s reporter character who gradually comes to fully believe that there is a cancer lying at the heart of American democracy. This places him steadfastly outside the mainstream, thus making him the perfect fall guy in the investigative aftermath. Ironically, it is Oswald’s irrefutable belief that American democracy was diseased that has made him the perfect fall guy for a host of wildly ridiculous conspiracy theories that ignore virtually every fact pointing to the simplest solution to the JFK assassination.