The Conversation Review (1974)

I just now started watching Coppola's films recently, starting with The Godfather, which I don't really need to comment on because it's a masterpiece. However, when I started watching this movie, I was shocked by the beauty of both the story and cinematography. After I saw the film, I went to it's IMDb page to find out who the cinematographer was, and discovered it was Bill Butler, who also filmed Jaws and Grease. Needless to say, I was impressed. From beginning to end, this movie contains the best cinematography my eyes have ever seen. It’s crazy to think that Coppola released The Conversation and Godfather Part II in the same year. Both films were nominated for the 1975 Best Picture as well as Original and Adapted Screenplay Oscars respectively, which has only happened to Coppola. Coppola also won a Palme d'Or, which is the highest award for a film in the Cannes Film Festival. The Conversation is the film that won that prestigious award.

The Conversation was directed and written by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, John Cazale, and Allen Garfield. The story follows Harry Caul (played by Gene Hackman), a private investigator on a job to spy on a couple. After listening to the audio from the couple’s conversation back at his office, he hears something that makes him scared, paranoid, and refuses subsequently to give the audio to his boss, Martin Stett  (played by Harrison Ford).

Gene Hackman nailed it in this movie. You really cared about him. He loves his job but despises its potential to get people hurt; he cares more about making people safe than getting money. He’s also very smart, as he does not give anyone his personal information, and he is innovational because he engineers the technology which he uses to do his job. You don't see him as Gene Hackman, you see him as Harry Caul. What I mean to say is, he seems believable as a real human being.

Harrison Ford portrayed a very creepy character in this film, a type of role which I am not used to seeing from him. As Martin Stett, he gives Harry the job to spy on a couple. After recording the conversation, Harry does not give the tape to Martin, consequently leading to Martin spying on him. Harrison Ford acted as though he was a character in a horror film and it was perfect. He doesn’t get much screen time, but when he’s on, he’s great.

The sound design and score was great too, with a very eerie sound emitting from the mics which were picking up on the conversation, accompanied by intense piano music when situations became dire. The score for this film was so masterfully composed that I would buy the soundtrack. The editing of the film was also incredible as exampled by the ever repeating conversation in Harry’s head.

All and all, I think The Conversation is one of my top 5 favorite films. I didn't have a single problem with this film and I thought it was breathtaking to watch. This is a classic thriller that will go down in history as one of the greats. I'm giving The Conversation 5/5 stars. If you can find this movie, buy it. Not a lot of people talk about this film, and most probably don’t even know about it, which is unfortunate because it’s a masterpiece.

This is the average movie guy, signing off.



Written by: Tyler Brown & Derek Swartz