It’s possible—perhaps even likely—that the whole Conspiracy Theory crowd was born from the Warren Commission’s report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened on November 22, 1963.
What’s certain is that these theories about JFK’s death certainly bled over into Hollywood. And as a result, films in the 1970s started to spring up that suggested that government plots were everywhere. Maybe not all of them put things in the hands of the government. Some of them suggested that corporations were to blame. Maybe even corporate collectives were pulling all the strings (think about 1975’s Rollerball or 1976’s Network).
In this episode we look at a pair of films that deal with a thinly-veiled version of JFK’s assassination. First we have The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty. Beatty is an investigative reporter who looks deeply into the death of a popular politician—perhaps more so than certain people would like. After that, there’s Winter Kills, from 1979 or so (go listen to the episode and you’ll find out what we mean). This film, starring Jeff Bridges and written/directed by William Richert, is an interesting look at the corrupting nature of power.
COMING ATTRACTIONS:
Next time around we’re taking a look at a pair of foreign films that are set during unnamed wars: First up is Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend (1967), followed by Ingmar Bergman’s Shame (1968). Be warned that Weekend has some disturbing images and themes.