Blow-Up (1966), The Conversation (1974), Blow Out (1981) ***

1966's “Blow-Up” is not named after an inflatable lover, although if you search for this movie on the internet, you may come up with some material on that subject. It's the first english-language film by Italian director Michaelangelo Antonioni, known for films like "La Notte." His signature is having his characters roam a city, going from one mad party or bizarre nightclub to another. “Blow-Up” is about a fashion photographer who discovers a possible murder in one of his pictures. There's an amazing sequence in which he uses his home photo lab to make progressively larger prints of the pictures. The images get really grainy, and while we can finally see what he is seeing, the image is too spotty for him to feel he can simply call the police. He heads out to wander the city, Antonioni-style, in an attempt to solve the alleged crime.

Besides probably being Antonioni's best film, “Blow-Up” is known for its dynamic, jazz soundtrack, its scantily-clad models, and its racy sexual content, including a brief full-frontal shot of Jane Birkin's bush. The image is incredibly fleeting, but it was an affront to the Hollywood Production Code, and may have helped lead to the end of the Code in favor of our current MPAA ratings system.

Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 picture “The Conversation,” is not a direct copy of “Blow-Up,” but the similarities are striking. Gene Hackman plays a socially-isolated security expert who specializes in recording sound. He is able to bug conversations under the most challenging circumstances. While cutting together the sound from a recent job, he becomes convinced that his targets are going to be killed.

I just recently saw these two films, but I immediately recognized the theme of a perfectionist, isolated, technical artist who is so absorbed in his work that he discovers the clues to a murder. Years ago, I saw a Brian De Palma movie that clearly was inspired by these films. 1981's “Blow Out” stars John Travolta as a sound professional who is out collecting samples for movies when he captures the sound of a fatal car accident. As he analyzes the recording, he begins to suspect that it wasn't an accident, after all. Little did I know that the film was just the latest remake of a story from the 60's. 

Naturally, I had to re-watch “Blow Out,” and I found that it is the most conventional film of the three. “Blow-Up” and “The Conversation” are both rather artsy and ambiguous. “Blow-Out” is more of a traditional whodunit, and not a particularly well-written one. The movie's charm largely depends on its lead, John Travolta, who fortunately has charm to spare. Despite some pretty ridiculous plot points, the movie is fun, and it manages a pretty edgy ending.

Of the three films, I would say “Blow Out” is the weakest, but also the most fun. Nancy Allen plays a dumb blonde really well (maybe too well), and Travolta is in his prime. “The Conversation” is a bit slow, but Gene Hackman plays it well, and it's a decent noir. “Blow-Up” is New Wave artsy, a bit confounding, and the closest to a classic of the bunch. Watching all three films is a fun, little film festival you can do at home. It's like a jazz record, with each movie a different instrument coming in to do its own variation on the theme.

3 stars out of 5 for each film