The Conversation Poster

The Conversation (1974)

Drama | Thriller 
Rayting:   7.9/10 99.7K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: June 1974

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple, on whom he is spying, will be murdered.

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rmax304823 25 October 2003

SPOILERS.

Coppola made this, a personal movie, after the rip-roaring commercial and critical success of "The Godfather." And it's a good one. Whereas "The Godfather" was a splashy violent well-done gangster movie dealing with power and sex, and persuading us to sympathize with a family at least as murderous as that in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," this one has to do with something else entirely. It's not about that old theme of illusion vs. reality. Nobody plays, say, Jack the Ripper in a stage play and then begins to butcher women on the streets. It has to do, rather, with the interpretation of reality (whatever that is), which is an issue of a different color.

Briefly, Harry Caul (Hackman) is hired by "the director," who seems to be a rich and powerful executive, to spy on a young woman and the guy she's seeing (Cindy Williams and Frederick Forrest). He's the best surveillance technician on the West Coast and he does an ace job of capturing them on film and audiotape while they wander around Union Square in downtown San Francisco. Harry puts the pieces together and suspects the Director plans to murder them. Well, this isn't Harry's first time at bat here. Back in New York, doing his usual dispassionately expert job of spying, he was responsible for the deaths of a man, his wife, and his child, the incident that drove him to The City. He's a very secretive guy, Harry, and minds his own business, but he's not about to let THAT happen again. When he tried to withhold his tapes from The Director, the tapes are stolen. And when he tries to interfere further a murder does in fact take place. But Harry had it backwards. He interpreted everything on his tapes as signs that the young couple were in danger from The Director, whereas in fact the couple had been planning to murder him for the inheritance, and they succeed too.

You can never truly be sure that your interpretations of what's going on are the correct ones because, as Kant argued, our interpretations are limited by our perceptual apparatus, just as Harry's interpretations were limited to what he could learn from four unidirectional microphones, a camera, and a hidden portable mike attached to a receiver. And what all this electronic junk told him was real enough but so ambiguous that its meaning could be twisted one way or another.

The movie is rife with symbolism that I'm not sure I'm getting because it too is ambiguous. Harry is as secretive as anyone can be without being frankly paranoid. Nobody knows his home phone number. His girlfriend, who deserts him, doesn't know his birthday or his age. A "cawl" is the thin layer of white fat that covers and conceals a piece of meat such as a leg of lamb. But Harry's raincoat is translucent, one of those ugly plastic ones you can pretty much see through. And he wears prominent glasses so his sight can't be what it used to be. And, after all, an envious competitor in the bugging business does manage to plant a hidden mike on Harry and record a private conversation. And somebody does get Harry's home phone, calls him up and tells him, "We're watching you." (This leads to Harry's tearing his whole apartment apart in a futile search for the hidden mike, and leaves him playing a desolate tenor sax while sitting alone on the floor.) Harry has no family. His assistant, John Cazale, is a little too inquisitive and is fired. Someone describes Harry as "anonymous and lonely.&q

jonnyfilm-2 23 June 2002

Fmovies: Harry Caul: `I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder.'



Two weeks ago I wrote a review of `The Silence of the Lambs' I said I thought that it was one of the greatest suspense films of all time. Well Francis Ford Coppola's ingenious and frightening film isn't one of the best suspense films of all time; it simply is the greatest suspense film of all time. It follows professional ease dropper Harry Caul's job on a conversation that goes way beyond anything that he ever could expect. This film is truly something else in its own right. Coppola is such a master, such a brilliant mind. This film is him at his best, after `The Godfather' and before part two. He makes this film so brilliantly and so knowing of what emotions the audience will feel, every pause and every silence is direct and timed. The film is completely intentional. It is constructed off of films like Michelangelo Antonioni's `Blow-up' or most Hitchcock films. Coppola takes these aspects brought by most of the great filmmakers and takes them to a whole new level of personal texture. He puts so much more into it. Making him (I can't say this enough) one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and most misunderstood. His films are like pie, they look good, they taste good, heck they even smell good, but you never really know what they are made of. All his films are deeper then they seem, it takes a true (TRUE!) film lover to respect what influences the man has made. Look at it like this, the greatest Hollywood film of all time, `The Godfather,' the greatest War film of all time `Apocalypse Now,' The greatest Sequel of all time `The Godfather Part II,' and the greatest Independent/Suspense film of all time `The Conversation.' What else is there to conquer? Science Fiction? His next film `Megalopolis' will tackle that void. Who cares about his slips, he has made some of the greatest films of all time.



In this film his talent is at its best with an involving, brilliantly executed screenplay and flawless direction. He makes cookies into Danish, if any other man ever made this film it would be good no doubt, but the greatest suspense film of all time? I think not. Harry Caul's (Hackman) character is so deep and so magnified. He is such a character's character; this film is a pure and simple character study. Not to mention the flawless cinematography and music. The little jazz piano riff fits the film perfectly and the cinematography is so mechanical like a piece of surveillance equipment. The dialogue in the first few minutes is so perfectly written it makes the viewer cringe wanting to know what it is the couple is saying so when we find out it is more of a gift. The conversation that the film is based on is set up so well all threw out the film, the more we hear the more we think, it is repetition at its perfection. The repetition is a true part of the film, the more the viewer hears something they ask themselves why am I hearing this again, what does it mean? Then the conversation tears at the viewer until they fall apart, just like Harry. The viewer understands his motivations, they see his reasons. We are set up and moved around this maze of murder and mayhem, we are Harry (J). This is just one of many brilliant aspects of the film. It never dives down or falls off it always stays paranoid like the main character. `The Conversation' is a haunting and well constructed masterpiece that molds great acting with brilliant storytelling.

gbheron 22 January 2000

The Conversation is a stark look into the modern art of surveillance and its affect on one of its practitioners. Harry Caul (Hackman) is at the top of his business, but he's disturbed. Highly paranoiac, he is troubled by bad things that happened to some innocent people as a result of a prior surveillance job. Now he's afraid it's happening again....

The Conversation could not be more antithetical of the current movie making style. Stark, claustrophobic, unsexy, slow-paced, and with almost no soundtrack, it slowly builds to its dramatic noirish denouement.

A real treat, and as an added attraction the actors include a young Cindy Williams, Terri Garr, John Cazale, and Harrison Ford. Worth the rental unless anything outside of the MTV mould causes agitation.

alexkolokotronis 14 June 2008

The Conversation fmovies. To me The Conversation is one of most underrated movies ever. The movie carries on so quietly throughout that the suspense of the movie keeps on building up to one of the best endings in movie history.

The directing of this film was among one of the best I have ever seen. Coppola is able to craft his way through another one of his classics. The movie is just perfectly edited together and is so gripping throughout. His directing really takes the audiene to another world that most to almost all of us do not know about. That world is the world of security surveillance and spies. This though is not an ordinary spy movie, it is a very realistic psychological portrayal and the affects of knowing the real truth. Instead of this movie becoming a complete flop it becomes better and better as it carries on. Along with the cinematography and music he makes the audience feel how remote and controlled our society is. Coppola did not just show it he gave you the actual feeling of it. Coppola deserves much of the credit for this.

The writing was very good too. Once again Coppola uses his writing to keep the audience very much engaged into the movie. The writing in this movie ranks up their with his other screenplays such as The Godfather series, Apocalypse Now and Patton.

The acting was a bit of surprise to me. It was better than I expected. This film convinced me that Gene Hackman is prime talent. He is not just a man who plays the man always involved in a shouting match but in fact he is a versatile actor who has really limited himself rather than his abilities limiting him. He was perfect for this movie. The supporting cast was great as well. Robert Duvall who always gives the best cameos was good in here too. Harrison Ford who I wish actually had some more screen time was very convincing as a manipulative high ranking executive.

The ending in this movie to me is one of the best ever. It shows how or fears can consume us and alter our live. It displays how if our fears consume us we lose the feeling of life itself. That is at least my take of it. This is Coppola's hidden masterpiece that should be seen by all. It will definitely make you think.

andy-227 10 May 1999

"The Conversation" is a really great movie. I was quite surprised when I saw it. Not at how good it was, but how few people have seen it or heard of it. This is a classic suspense thriller, and a terrifying psychological horror film! From the opening credits, I, like the characters, was unsure of where I was going, or what the opening conversation (which is what the entire film is built around) might lead to. It seemed so unusually powerful, despite its masterfully simplistic execution. There is no overkill or excess in this film, nor is it under written or underplayed. It's just perfect! And I was even more surprised at how little was shown, and how much it could engross or frighten the hell out of me! My heart was racing, even though there was little action! This is the kind of film Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud to direct. The direction went to another master instead, Francis Ford Coppola. I felt ahead of the movie at its opening credits. But then, it blasted me and got miles ahead of me. It is an attack on our psyche and our fear, and it's amazing how, like the film itself, the conversation in the film that seemed so small and irrational could lead to something as big as it did!

ma-cortes 25 February 2014

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert called Harry Caul (reportedly Gene Hackman's favorite movie in which he has acted) will go anywhere to bug a private conversation , as he is becoming increasingly uneasy about his current job . He is a solitary man in both his personal and professional life, only helped by his assistant Stan (early deceased John Cazale of Deer Hunter) , as they are watching a young couple (Cindy Williams , Frederic Forrest , Coppola's fetish actor) when Harry begins to suspect that they are murder targets . The professional eavesdropper haunted by the time his bugging cost the lives of some people and terrified that it is happening again , as he has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered . As Harry refines and re-refines the recording, he interprets what he hears in different ways . As Harry discovers shattering revelation believes that the lives of the young couple are in jeopardy .

This interesting flick turns out to be a powerful statement about privacy , guilty and responsibility ; being ¨surveillance¨ as the basis and theme of the film . The picture contains thrills , emotion , thought-provoking issues and plot twists during the last reel . Very good acting by Gene Hackman as a freelance surveillance expert as well as an intensely private and solitary mature man . His mood of isolation and loneliness is pretty well established . The ¨Tapper¨ Gene Hackman learned to play the saxophone especially for the film . Gene Hackman later plays a former NSA agent who is a surveillance expert in ¨Enemy of the state¨ (1998) by Tony Scott , and the images of his character in his younger days are taken directly from this film . Secondary cast is frankly good , such as John Cazale as his business associate , Allen Garfield as Bernie Moran , Frederic Forrest as Mark , Cindy Williams as Ann and special appearance by Robert Duvall as the Director . In addition , a pre-stardom Harrison Ford , Billy Dee Williams and Teri Garr appear in minor characters .

David Shire's original music was composed prior to production and played for the actors prior to their scenes to get them into the proper moods. Evocative and appropriate cinematography by Bill Butler and Haskell Wexler as uncredited director of photography . This well-made motion picture was stunningly directed by Francis Ford Coppola . In fact , this is Francis Ford Coppola's personal favorite of his movies. Coppola had written the outline in 1966 but couldn't get financing until The Godfather (1972) became a success. ¨The Conversation¨ resulted to be one of the best films of the 70s . Rating : Better than average , don't blink during throughout the film . Essential and indispensable seeing for thriller lovers and Gene Hackman fans .

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