Art Direction (or Production Design) in film and television awards tends to honor the obvious over the subtle. By the majority benchmark, if something looks big, flashy and self conscious then it must be good. The challenge with that ideology is that nothing ages as quickly as fashion; when one looks at films that were revered for their overwhelming production design years later, they invariably appear dated and petrified. As with any great art, anonymity in service of the whole is what matters the most.

The Parallax View is one of the great thrillers of the 1970s, masterfully directed by Allan Pakula and superbly photographed by Gordon Willis. The plot is indirectly based on events that occurred following the assassination of John F. Kennedy whereby the majority of witnesses to that event either disappeared or died through suspect circumstances. In the film, Warren Beatty plays a reporter trying to uncover the mystery surrounding the rising number of unusual deaths of witnesses to an assassination of a charismatic political figure. His investigation trail leads him to the shadowy Parallax Corporation, an organization that seemingly specializes in philosophical cleansing.

What makes the film so superb (and chilling) is that it embodies a visual uneasiness through subtle and “ordinary” art direction that accelerates the underlying menace and disruption that slowly accumulates via the unfolding of the plot. Instead of creating an obviously threatening environment through the major set-pieces where key events occur, the film places these key exchanges in areas that are mundane and common. A train ride in an amusement park reveals an important exchange of information, a spacious and bright convention center becomes an arena of terror, a visit to a serene lake becomes a life and death struggle.

Areas of routine now become unstable because anything can happen anywhere within this universe.
The film is renowned for a 10-minute montage that occurs when Beatty undergoes a  suitability test to determine if he is the right candidate for the corporation. A seemingly disparate series of “ordinary” photographs unfold in such a manner that the cumulative result upon completion of the montage is that of acute paranoia and instability.

Instead of shocking through excess, the quiet approach contained within the imagery takes root and  successfully destabilizes, compelling the viewer to fall deeper into the trap.

When seen 35 years later, The Parallax View is a startling thematic experience because it rightfully anticipated the corporate psychosis that is prevalent throughout the world today. What makes the film such a gripping and terrifying visual and emotional noir is the sense of uncertainty and danger that is created through camera placement, lighting and art direction. It’s a perfect example of how the ordinary will always be extraordinary.