Details
Movie Description
Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION is a towering achievement, a masterfully constructed portrait of one man's descent into madness. Gene Hackman delivers a devastating performance as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who gets paid to invade the privacy of strangers. The film's classic opening shot is a long, slow zoom into Union Square in San Francisco, as a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams), are having what seems like an otherwise mundane conversation. However, when it is revealed that Harry and his assistant Stanley (John Cazale) are eavesdropping from a nearby van, it becomes clear that something more serious is happening. Later, after Harry painstakingly reconstructs the conversation from several different audio sources, he uncovers a snippet of dialogue that unsettles him. Suspicious of his client's motives for wanting the tape, Harry becomes uncharacteristically worried about the people he may have endangered, sending him into a dangerous mental tailspin.
With Harry Caul, Coppola and Hackman have managed to create one of cinema's most unforgettable characters, a man who appears to be in control on the outside but who is, in fact, crumbling on the inside. Though Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, and Allen Garfield deliver standout supporting turns, THE CONVERSATION is Hackman's show. Inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's BLOW UP (1966), THE CONVERSATION in turn went on to influence Brian De Palma's own surveillance thriller, BLOW OUT (1981).
Synopsis
Gene Hackman stars as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert whose regular work is taping the lives and conversations of others. The opening shot of the film is a slow, long zoom into Union Square in San Francisco, where a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams), are having what seems like a mundane conversation while Harry and his assistant, Stanley (John Cazale), eavesdrop from a nearby van. But when Harry carefully analyzes his tape of the two, he uncovers bits of an unsettling dialogue. Harry is suspicious of his client's motives for wanting the tape, and he becomes uncharacteristically caring about the people he may have put in danger. In Harry Caul, Francis Ford Coppola has created a complex Catholic-guilt ridden character for which Gene Hackman is perfect: a man in complete control on the outside but breaking down within. Robert Duvall appears in the film in an uncredited cameo role as the Director. Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, and Elizabeth MacRae costar, but Hackman, in top form in every scene, is the reason for watching.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital Mono - French
Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1.Francis Ford Coppola - Director
2.Walter Murch - Editor
Featurette - CLOSE-UP ON THE CONVERSATION
Trailers - 1.Original Theatrical Trailer
Theatrical release: April 7, 1974
Shot on location in San Francisco, California.
THE CONVERSATION was made by Francis Ford Coppola in the time between THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER PART II.
The film was written over five years before production began.
Tony Scott's 1998 film, ENEMY OF THE STATE, makes numerous references to THE CONVERSATION. Gene Hackman's character in Scott's film, Brill, is essentially an extension of Harry Caul character.
THE CONVERSATION was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1995.
In 1975, Coppola became the first person to ever receive two Oscar nominations for Best Director in the same year (the other film being THE GODFATHER PART II).
Industry Reviews
"...Subdued, wrenching, beautifully calibrated....Thrillingly uncompromised..." -- Rating: A
Entertainment Weekly - Mark Harris (01/05/2001)
"...A taut, intelligent thriller..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (02/04/2001)
"...Too few movie lovers have seen Francis Ford Coppola's cult masterpiece THE CONVERSATION..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (12/15/2000)
"...Coppola's spare thriller works as a brilliant deconstruction of the medium..."
Total Film - Daniel Webb (12/01/2003)
"Francis Ford Coppola's conspiracy thriller stands up well 30 years on."
Uncut - Uncut Staff (01/01/2005)
"Gene Hackman gives a perfect performance as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who stumbles on an ominous conversation that wasn't meant for his ears or anyone else's."
Wall Street Journal (06/12/2009)
Quotations
"I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder."--Harry Caul (Gene Hackman)
"I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference."--Martin Stett (Harrison Ford) to Caul
"There's no moment between human beings that I cannot record."--Bernie Moran (Allen Garfield)
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