This is a brilliant study on obsessive and paranoid behavior and the effect technology has in our lives and society in general. It's about a surveillance expert, Harry Caul, who has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. This had happened before and he feels very guilty about it. But can he really know what's happening, or did he lose something with the capture of the sound? Or is his mind playing tricks on him? This has a brilliant screenplay. The leading character is fascinating, and the other characters are seen by his distorted eyes in a frightening way. The dialogs, especially the conversation the title mentions, are mind blowing, meaningful and hold clues to what's going to happen. The pace of the movie is just right and it keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. The story is interesting, reflective and intelligent, and all the touchy subjects the movie talks about are spoken of with sensibility, even if sometimes they can make you feel uncomfortable. You get to a point in which you don't know what's reality and what isn't, making this thought provoking. It's simply a great screenplay.
The acting is all at least above average. Gene Hackman gives his tortured, paranoid, character complexity and sincerity. He disappears into his part and you believe everything he does. He gives the character vulnerability and his acting is one of the main things that made me see the story by his point of view. Frederick Forrest and Cindy Williams do a good job in creating dream-like characters in just one scene, and Cindy Williams has an amazing delivery of her lines. John Cazale makes his character likable and has a convincing chemistry with Hackman. Harrison Ford makes a good impression in playing the bad guy, with his soft spoken ways and strong eye expression that contrast.
The direction is amazing. Francis Ford Coppola not only gets great performances from the casting, but he chooses meaningful camera angles, giving his movie an unique feeling, and gets the best work from the crew. The angles he chooses suggest an invisible presence, peeking into Harry Caul's life. They can be truly claustrophobic and make you know the characters' feelings. They give you a sense of space and time the way it's experienced by Caul.
The technicals are all great. The sound plays a huge part in this movie, and it's intelligently manipulated. It connects with the images during the conversation itself in an original fashion, in a different rhythm, volume and tone than reality, showing us Harry's point of view and how what we hear is not always what is there. The cinematography, with all the dark, dirty colors works in showing us Harry's trip to a personal hell and the sudden flashes of red-the hotel scene-are shocking and used hauntingly. The editing gives the movie its exciting, but reflective pace. I really recommend this. It's thought provoking, technically brilliant and haunting.
The acting is all at least above average. Gene Hackman gives his tortured, paranoid, character complexity and sincerity. He disappears into his part and you believe everything he does. He gives the character vulnerability and his acting is one of the main things that made me see the story by his point of view. Frederick Forrest and Cindy Williams do a good job in creating dream-like characters in just one scene, and Cindy Williams has an amazing delivery of her lines. John Cazale makes his character likable and has a convincing chemistry with Hackman. Harrison Ford makes a good impression in playing the bad guy, with his soft spoken ways and strong eye expression that contrast.
The direction is amazing. Francis Ford Coppola not only gets great performances from the casting, but he chooses meaningful camera angles, giving his movie an unique feeling, and gets the best work from the crew. The angles he chooses suggest an invisible presence, peeking into Harry Caul's life. They can be truly claustrophobic and make you know the characters' feelings. They give you a sense of space and time the way it's experienced by Caul.
The technicals are all great. The sound plays a huge part in this movie, and it's intelligently manipulated. It connects with the images during the conversation itself in an original fashion, in a different rhythm, volume and tone than reality, showing us Harry's point of view and how what we hear is not always what is there. The cinematography, with all the dark, dirty colors works in showing us Harry's trip to a personal hell and the sudden flashes of red-the hotel scene-are shocking and used hauntingly. The editing gives the movie its exciting, but reflective pace. I really recommend this. It's thought provoking, technically brilliant and haunting.