Matthew Percefull
Homage is a tricky endeavor. You can risk coming across as a rip-off or cheap imitation of something iconic. Every piece of art is inspired by something else, and film is no exception. But to go beyond inspiration into full-on homage is another beast entirely. It requires nuance and an eye that knows when it would be most applicable. There are so many films that are “homages” to Goodfellas, that just recreate Goodfellas with new actors. There’s a level of nuance that is needed to pull off a meaningful homage.
Brian De Palma is an auteur who is infamous for his use of homages, particularly to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. There seem to be two schools of thought about De Palma in the film community. You either love his films and view him as a groundbreaking auteur, or you think he’s a derivative hack. Whatever your opinion, it’s hard to deny his ability to transform his inspirations into a whole new aesthetic that is special to him. His film Blow Out sees him putting this to the test, as he spiritually remakes two classic films.
Blow Out is a conspiracy thriller directed by Brian De Palma in 1981. It follows Jack (John Travolta), a sound director who’s currently working on a low-budget slasher film. Jack becomes embroiled in a conspiracy when his microphone picks up a political assassination attempt. After saving Sally (Nancy Allen) from the wreckage, the two put themselves in grave danger as they try to figure out what happened that night. As they get closer to the truth, they are stalked by the malicious Burke (John Lithgow).
At the time of its release, Blow Out was a box office bomb that was widely viewed as a complete failure by the industry at large. It almost derailed the momentum that Brian De Palma had built with his cult hit Dressed To Kill. The film has gained a more positive reputation over time. It’s even become quite influential itself, with directors like Quentin Tarantino naming it among their top films. When you dig deeper into the inspirations behind the film, Tarantino’s cosign makes more sense. Like De Palma, Tarantino is also known for his use of references to other films. He loves mashing together elements of his favorite films while flipping them on their head. In a lot of ways, Blow Out is a proto-Tarantino film.
It’s impossible to write about Blow Out without writing about two other films: Blow-Up and The Conversation. Blow Out is essentially a retelling of the former. Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up tells the story of a photographer who accidentally captures a murder as it happens. Similar to Jack, the photographer almost drives himself mad trying to prove this potential murder plot. Blow Out’s most substantial difference is the fact that we know the murder plot is real. In Blow-Up, it’s left up to the audience whether they believe the main character actually captured a murder or not. Instead, Blow Out sees our lead gaslit by everyone around him. He’s made to seem crazy despite being the only one who knows the truth. Blow Out‘s connection to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation has more to do with the film’s relationship to sound.
Blow Out‘s effectiveness hinges on its sound design. If the sound of the murder doesn’t impact the audience in the way it impacts Jack, you might as well just throw the whole story away. The Conversation also uses audio as its central element. Both films feature their main leads analyzing bits of audio for prolonged sequences. The Conversation is about a surveillance expert who catches a murder on tape after accepting a sketchy job. Jack’s backstory as a surveillance expert in the FBI is definitely a nod to the 1970s classic.
Blow Out isn’t ripping off either film, though it may seem like it if you’d just read the premise for each film. Blow Out isn’t trying to recreate these films; it’s trying to talk to them. Brian De Palma is deeply reverent and respectful to every film he references. He understands what made them work for their time and how they can be modernized. His flashy visual style and sardonic tone make Blow Out stand out even among the films it’s directly inspired by. The film is played straight as can be while occasionally winking at the audience mischievously. Your viewing doesn’t depend on having seen Blow-Up or The Conversation. If you have seen the film and know it, the viewer can have fun with that fact.
There’s an argument to be made that Blow Out is secretly a slasher film. While I don’t believe that it fully fits the subgenre, it’s undeniably inspired by it. The serial killer plot in the third act is very slasher-like, with some major homages to psycho thrown in for good measure. The clever meta opening features a film within our main film. It opens in a first-person slasher scene that feels like Giallo and Hitchcock merged together with a sprinkle of John Carpenter’s Halloween for good measure. The B-production Co-ed Frenzy is being held back by the search for a perfect horror scream. This search will hauntingly come back in a shocking ending. De Palma isn’t a stranger to the horror genre. He fits seamlessly into it in the scenes that require that genre flair.
Brian De Palma wasn’t just inspired by other films when he made Blow Out. The political climate in America was under much scrutiny as Watergate still loomed large. This scandal, as well as the JFK assassination and the infamous Abraham Zapruder film, are infused in Blow Out‘s narrative. The paranoia around government conspiracy and the rise of accessible recording equipment in the early 1980s is palpable in the film. In our current times of an aggressively unconstitutional administration and the rise of AI surveillance, these themes are as relevant as ever. What does it mean to capture proof when the systems are stacked against you, and the technology is evolving faster than the human brain can even comprehend?
Sally is one of the most overlooked aspects of Blow Out. Played brilliantly by Nancy Allen, Sally’s character is a tragic one that represents how innocence is destroyed in the pursuit of the American dream. She’s essentially tricked into sacrificing herself for a smear campaign against a presidential candidate. She’s used as a scapegoat the entire film. Even in her death, the one who was there to protect her exploited her last moments for his gain. In a shocking ending that makes your stomach turn, it’s revealed that Jack uses the sound of Sally’s ultimate death to complete his quest for the perfect scream. This twisted ending is one of the darkest and mean-spirited final scenes in film history. It’s a perfect way to wrap up this grimy thriller.
When power is corrupt, there’s not much you can do to fight it. You either die trying or you give in to the depravity. That’s the bleak message that I come away with from Blow Out. Jack risks his life to prove that this was an assassination attempt, but it means nothing. At the end of the day, he’s still at the bottom of the totem pole. He still has a trashy slasher film to finish. It didn’t matter how much proof he had or how loudly he exposed it, he had no leverage. John Travolta puts on his signature performance here in Blow Out. He helps add layers to this character. The ultimate decision to exploit Sally’s death for his gain stings extra hard as the audience is endeared to Jack.
Brian De Palma brilliantly deploys all of his best camera tricks here. If anyone is ever confused about the director’s place as an auteur, they need to watch Blow Out. From the split diopter shots to the “spinning room” effect, he has complete control of every frame. His camera, steered by Oscar-winning Close Encounters of the Third Kind cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, is expressive and playful. It dances around and changes depending on the emotion of the moment. The film feels high octane, even in the quiet moments. It drags you along scene to scene in a dizzying but intoxicating manner. The film moves at a breakneck pace. The editing by fellow Oscar winner Paul Hirsch is as frantic as the camera work. This does a great deal in terms of really immersing you in this grimy noir-infused world.
Blow Out is an important film. It’s not only Brian De Palma’s masterpiece, but also one of the greatest conspiracy thrillers ever made. Blow Out is a cynical film that is also full of heart. It’s a middle finger to corruption and the degradation of society, but a love letter for the craft of filmmaking. It is, after all, a movie about making a movie. Blow Out is juggling so many ideas and influences. Miraculously, this film came together as perfectly as it did. As the years pass, the more prescient the story here becomes. We all have our mini surveillance systems in our pockets. We can capture any and everything at the tap of a screen. We’re seeing in real time that this is powerless when you don’t control the narrative. As far as Brian De Palma’s concerned, is there any point in trying?
