Sounds Good, by Daniel Bergamini
Leading up to the recent much-anticipated Criterion Collection release of Brian De Palma’s 1980 film Blow Out, film writers were buzzing about the quality of this under-appreciated film. It is one I was all but unaware of, something that is partially due to my disinterest in the works of De Palma. While I wouldn’t say I hate De Palma’s films, I was certainly not a fan, something that could also be said about my opinion of the performances of John Travolta. This film changed my views on both.
Watching this film, I became aware of the great talent that is De Palma and the occasionally great Travolta. This film revealed something else to me, something more important. While this may not have been the goal of De Palma’s film, it made me aware of something too often overlooked while watching, or rather listening, to a film: sound design.
Travolta plays Jack Terry, a talented but uninspired sound designer for low-budget horror films. He is thrust into a conspiracy as he may have recorded a gunshot in what is being reported as a freak accident. From there the film becomes a paranoid thriller, along the lines of classic Hitchcock. De Palma has spent much of his career aping Hitchcock and often failing to produce anything original. However, here we see that De Palma isn’t simply imitating, he now understands what Hitchcock was doing, allowing for true inspiration.
The film opens as a faux-slasher film only to reveal Jack being lectured on the low quality of his sound effects, particularly the scream of one of the victims. It is from this moment that I began to pay attention to the way sound was used in this film, in a way I had never before. It is obvious that with a film that hinges on the use of sound and recording, we would pay more attention to sound but this did something else. It made me conscious of sound design in all films. It could easily have been gimmicky, and been used as a trick. Instead De Palma uses sound like he would in any other film, very well. He makes you aware of something so integral to cinema, without ever being obvious about it.
As I mentioned before, De Palma proves himself a true master of suspense with this film, rather than someone who just stole the titled from Hitchcock. His use of sound and visuals are that of a master of cinema and his talents are in full display here. While I have come to love one of De Palma’s films, it doesn’t change the fact he has produced many inconsistent to bad pieces of cinema.
The other surprise for me was Travolta. Travolta shows himself as an actor who can be great under the right guidance, as he is here. It is not, however, Travolta’s performance that grabbed me the most, rather it is that of John Lithgow. In one of the most chilling performances I have ever seen on screen, Lithgow plays a political assassin, whose taste for blood goes far beyond just a job.
It may be a cliché, but this film was in many ways a revelation to me. From the fact it is an absolutely great thriller, to its revealing the simple, but pivotal, role of sound in film. My opinion on De Palma has not changed entirely, as I still do dislike many of his films. However, this film will remain a truly important piece of cinema for me.