``Blow Out'' Brian De Palma's great and important masterpiece, highly praised by Tarantino

Aspects of a political thriller

De Palma says he came up with the story concept for `` Blow Out '' while doing the sound mix for ` `Dressed to Kill '' (1980). "When I was mixing `` Dressed to Kill,'' I appealed to the sound director: Do something about the sound of the leaves, don't reuse it. Then he recorded a new sound. That’s where the key came from.”

Jack Terry (John Travolta), a sound recording engineer working for a Philadelphia film production company, is having trouble finding the ideal female scream for a murder scene in a low-budget horror film. One night, while on a bridge recording natural sounds such as owls and frogs for a new piece, he accidentally picks up the sound of a car accident. When the silence is broken by the sound of a car tire exploding, Jack jumps into the river and rescues a girl, Sally (Nancy Allen), who is trapped in a submerged car.

“Blow Out” (c) Photofest / Getty Images

Later, it turns out that the dead driver was a governor who was a candidate for the next president. Jack's associates beg Jack not to reveal that call girl Sally was on the ride with him. However, after listening to the tape of the accident again, Jack is convinced that he heard a gunshot just before the tire went flat, and by comparing the sound with a photo taken by photographer Manny Karp (Dennis Franz), who witnessed the accident, Jack I came to the conclusion that it was not an accident, but a murder.

As the story unfolds, a political conspiracy emerges that an assassination was carried out to prevent the rise of a promising candidate. This work can be said to have aspects of a political thriller.

De Palma and Nancy Allen

"Originally, the idea was for Al Pacino or Richard Dreyfuss to play the male role, and Ann-Margret or Dyan Cannon for the female role," Travolta said in 1981, but De Palma's big name was chosen for the lead role. John Travolta and Nancy Allen, who played the delinquent couple in the hit movie " Carrie " (1976), have been cast. De Palma and Allen met on "Carrie" and married in 1979. Since then, De Palma has starred his wife Allen as a prostitute in three consecutive movies: ``Nightmare Family'' (1980), ``Dressed to Kill'', and ``Blow Out'' (they divorced in 1983, and at this time This work is their last work.)

"I met my ex-wife Nancy on ``Carrie,'' and we started dating when we were working on `` Fury .'' I also created a role for her in ``Dressed to Kill.'' I got tired of making movies with her. Around that time, our relationship as a couple became strained, but Travolta liked her.I was surprised when Travolta announced that he would appear in ``Blow Out,'' and the production costs skyrocketed.'' Palma recalls that the budget jumped from the original $3 million to $18 million due to the participation of Travolta, who was a big star at the time.

Actual events that influenced