Blow Out

Director: Brian De Palma

1981 / 107min / DCP

Considered by many to be De Palma’s masterpiece, this gut-wrenching thriller combines personal and political tragedy to make a nigh-perfect commentary on the power of the image. Opening with an extended sequence parodying both his own films and the slashers of the day, Blow Out stars John Travolta as a soundman on grade-Z horror movies who, while recording outdoor noises for his productions, captures the sound of a Chappaquiddick-like car crash and maybe a political assassination, and proceeds to piece it together frame by frame like the Zapruder film. Nancy Allen is the escort he fishes out of the water who becomes embroiled in his search for truth. A work of breathtaking fatalism, Blow Out offers excruciating suspense, remarkable Vilmos Zsigmond photography, a very creepy John Lithgow, and a genuinely tragic ending.

“Brilliantly combining the visual obsession of Blow-Up with the auditory fixation of The Conversation, Blow Out creates a multi-sensory thriller that explores the nature of truth in media. De Palma’s masterful use of split-screen techniques and long, uninterrupted takes reflects the fractured nature of truth within a single moment. Inspired by Blow-Up and The Conversation, De Palma utilized the spiral structure which invites the audience into Jack’s psyche—an approach we emulated in Gazer to underscore the complexity of Frankie’s journey. Just as Blow Out immerses viewers in the streets of Philadelphia, we sought to focus on the places I grew up, to infuse Gazer with the same vivid sense of place that makes Blow Out so memorable and lets the setting become an integral part of the story.” —Ryan J. Sloan

Introduction by Ryan Sloan and Ariella Mastroianni on Saturday, February 8th.