The Parallax View Shows That The Truth Comes at a Cost (2024)

Alan J. Pakula’s legendary 1970s conspiracy thriller The Parallax View captivated the anti-war zeitgeist in the wake of Watergate. The film is one of the great journalistic films and asks us what we would be prepared to sacrifice in the name of the truth. The film charts the journey of a talented but washed-up journalist Joseph Frady, played by the inimitable Warren Beatty.

Three years after the political assassination of presidential candidate Charles Carroll, a traumatized news reporter, Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss), reaches out to her ex romantic partner Frady, with concerns about the assassination. She is panicked and hysterical and needs help. She explains multiple people who witnessed the assassination have mysteriously died, and she’s terrified she’s next. But Frady is dismissive and rationally tries to assure her it’s all in her head, but Frady is wrong.

When Carter ends up dead, Frady is stirred by a sense of guilt and curiosity, and starts to investigate. He begins to uncover a vast conspiracy that goes further than he could have ever imagined. Frady becomes invigorated in a relentless quest for truth, but his quest comes at a cost.

Frady is a man whose dedication to pure journalism and truth has gotten him blacklisted by local law enforcement and with his own paper. His career seems to be at a standstill; he's a scruffy recovering alcoholic, with a disdain for authority and corruption. It’s clear that retaining such dedication isn’t easy, and in the beginning, Frady appears to have lost it. Frady is stuck writing bad stories with no alternatives on the horizon, and a desperate hunger to report a story that makes a real change. This is a man who really is struggling to cope with his purpose in life. It’s only after the shocking death of Carter that Frady is motivated by his relationship with her and a niggling sense of suspicion that reconnects him with his dedication to truth and justice. From the first act of The Parallax View, it can be rightly determined that dedication is certainly a cost needed by Frady in his pursuit of truth.

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The film shows the inherent dangers of pursuing the truth. At the beginning of the film, the police try to arrest Frady for his reporting. From the get-go, The Parralax View makes the case that the search for justice can put you at odds with authority, as well as social and state-run institutions. Frady's near-arrest shows the risk of him losing his freedom of movement and speech. The kind of journalistic values that Frady follows really celebrate him as a devout patriot, who honors the true democratic values of the constitution. For Frady, it’s only by genuine resistance to corruption, and by challenging authority that society can truly be free and function democratically.

Frady is alienated because of his anti-authoritarian reporting and becomes in many ways a pariah journalist. His struggles to get assignments at work for example are the direct consequence of his politically dangerous journalism. His editor and friend Bill (Hume Cronyn) is deeply concerned for Frady and even prevents his arrest by the vice squad. But Bill is also reluctant to publish the kind of stories Frady wants to write, as he says, “We’re in the business of reporting the news not making it.”

So when Frady wants to continue Carter’s investigation after her death, Bill isn’t supportive. Bill is a more cautious man and isn’t as gung-ho with reporting when it comes to challenging very powerful and dangerous adversaries. He encourages Frady to write safer less explosive stories and alludes to firing him if he doesn’t. But Frady won’t be deterred and goes to the town of Salmontail to inquire about the recent death of Judge Arthur Bridges.

Frady’s actions illustrate great determination, to tell the truth, and show his courage and strength to stand up for justice, even when it poses a multitude of negative outcomes for himself. He demonstrates a kind of evolutionary resilience because, beyond his obvious flaws, Frady is able to keep himself in search of the truth. Frady needs truth like a fish needs water and people need air. Throughout the film, we see the great obstacles that arise in the way of truth, which would deter most people. For example, when Frady’s job is on the line, or he’s facing arrest, or he gets into a bar fight, he doesn’t retreat. Instead, he fights back with enthusiasm. There’s a genuine inclination in Frady’s character to ensure justice even when it’s to his detriment.

Frady is resourceful and through an ex FBI agent, he acquires aliases to protect him in his investigation. There seems to be little limit to how far he is prepared to go in the name of the truth. For example, when Frady is in Salmontail, the local sheriff brings him to a river and tries to shoot and drown him. The attempt on his life only seems to embolden Frady’s quest for justice. The greater the injustice the more fuel and drive Frady seems to have for truth and justice. Frady even takes the sheriff’s car and breaks into his house, uncovering a mysterious questionnaire for a company called The Parallax Corporation.

Frady discovers that the questionnaire is designed to source violent would-be assassins. But in order to report the story properly and get sufficient proof he engages in espionage and using his new identity falsely applies to The Parallax Corporation. Shortly after this, a Parallax recruiter called Younger (Walter McGinn) approaches Frady, and attempts to hire him. It quickly becomes clear Parallax is a massive corporation that provides assassins to various customers around the globe.

Frady's search for truth starts to expose just how far corruption goes, seeming to range from local law enforcement all the way up to the national government. But once Fradys knows this, he’s duty-bound by the cost of this knowledge and is morally compelled to try and intervene. Frady’s drive for justice and his industrious detective work is perhaps too impulsive, and his identity is blown. Younger questions Frady over this and Frady admits he lied about his identity but covers his tracks by saying he lied about it because he was a sex offender. But things start to unravel after Frady gives a recording of the conversation to Bill, and Bill is killed and the tape stolen.

Frady goes to the Parallax office to see Younger but is told he isn’t there. As he’s leaving Frady sees Younger and follows him to a rally rehearsal for Senator George Hammond. It becomes clear to Frady that Parallax operatives plan on killing Hammond. After a sniper shoots Hammond dead, Frady gets caught and killed by Parallax operatives. The consequences of Frady’s death are twofold in that firstly they show the ultimate cost of attempting to expose the corruption of The Parallax Corporation is one’s life. But Secondly, Frady's murder shows that the bigger the truth, the greater the sacrifice required in attempting to reveal it. While the film is ultimately a tragedy, and Frady is unsuccessful, it's also a powerful warning call for citizens to seek and protect truth and justice before it’s too late.