BLOW out.

Last week in class we watched a movie I had never heard of before called “Blow Out.” John Travolta was the main star, and because it was made in the early 1980’s he was still in his prime days of cool. Travolta is a soundman for cheap horror movies who records unintentionally records the sound of car crash late one night while gathering sounds by a pond. Inside the car was a gubernatorial candidate and a prostitute with whom he was set up with for scandalous purposes. Travolta is able to save the girl’s life when the car crashes into the pond, and soon discovers that he has just meddled in a series of complicated affairs. He is badgered by the police (which confuses the audience since he seems to be a hero). Several more confusing events continue to unfold from this point.

It’s interesting that we watched this movie because I think it goes along with the theme of my group’s film project—experimental. “Blow Out” was an unconventional film that challenged us to think from several perspectives. The film unfolds piece by piece as we discover underlying motivations and emotions that drive the characters to do what they have done. I think in our film we will use similar techniques, and maybe even leave our audience hanging with the pieces to put together for themselves. ”Blow Out” featured many interesting camera techniques that gave it a different feel from most other films. My favorite was a panoramic shot that continually spun around a room. It kind of made me dizzy, but not in a bad way. It makes the audience really pay attention and anticipate what could happen next.

Another reason this film was of particular interest to me is its political subtexts. The death of the governor can be compared to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Both were conspiracy theories, and I would even go as far as to compare Kennedy’s alleged affairs with Marilyn Monroe to the prostitute in the car with the politician. Travolta spends a majority of the movie putting the pieces together of what happened the night of the car crash—was it really a tire blow out, or perhaps a murder? He gathers evidence from the tabloids (a series of photographs) that when put with the sound he recorded shows that a gun caused the tire to blow out. It’s really ingenious.