The Conversation (1974)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writer:

Francis Ford Coppola (written by)

Release Date:

1974 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business. He can record any conversation between two people anywhere. So far, three people are dead because of him.

Plot:

A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. |

Plot Keywords:

Surveillance | Hotel Room | Neo Noir | Paranoia | Sound

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Harry Caul
John Cazale	...	Stan
Allen Garfield	...	William P. 'Bernie' Moran
Frederic Forrest	...	Mark
Cindy Williams	...	Ann
Michael Higgins	...	Paul
Elizabeth MacRae	...	Meredith
Teri Garr	...	Amy Fredericks
Harrison Ford	...	Martin Stett
Mark Wheeler	...	Receptionist
Robert Shields	...	The Mime
Phoebe Alexander	...	Lurleen

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Dolby Digital (restored version)

Certification:

Spain:18 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (re-rating) (2002) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Alamo Square, Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

Coppola had written the outline in 1966 but couldn't get financing until The Godfather (1972) became a success.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Presumably, the "conversation" was recorded over the noon hour. In the opening shot, the shadows are much too long for mid-day, even in winter.

Quotes:

Martin Stett: I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)

Soundtrack:

Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home

A Movie About Poor Communications Skills

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.