The Conversation has over the years been elevated as a great conspiracy thriller. Something Francis Coppola managed to knock up between The Godfather II and writing the screenplay for The Great Gatsby.
Gene Hackman gives a nuanced performance as Harry Caul. A paranoid loner who is a devout Catholic, he plays the saxophone and keeps his work to himself. Even his co-worker Stan (John Cazale) is kept at a distance and not told what he is exactly listening to.
Harry is a legend in the field of covert surveillance but he suffers guilt from the tragic consequences of his work in the past. Yet he is also careless as a rival manages to bug Harry by way of a pen given to him at a convention.
In Harry's latest assignment he has recorded a conversation of two people walking around in Union Square, a feat that he is proud of.
However as Harry listens further to the conversation we hear fragments of them talking but we miss the beats and stresses of the words. Are the couple plotting or being plotted against.
Harrison Ford and Robert Duvall make minor appearances as members of the corporation who have hired Harry for the job.
Harry feels that lives are in danger and is getting increasingly paranoid and delusional.
The film is a slow burner but not as dull as the similar themed Blow Up. The Conversation jolts you with its visions and unravelling of its mystery.
It is still a minor piece even though it forms part of the group of mid 1970s conspiracy thrillers which includes The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor, and All the President's Men.
The reason being that although it has attracted a cult following and critical praise. The Conversation is too slow and downbeat, almost as Coppola wanted to contrast it with the grandeur of the Godfather films.
Gene Hackman gives a nuanced performance as Harry Caul. A paranoid loner who is a devout Catholic, he plays the saxophone and keeps his work to himself. Even his co-worker Stan (John Cazale) is kept at a distance and not told what he is exactly listening to.
Harry is a legend in the field of covert surveillance but he suffers guilt from the tragic consequences of his work in the past. Yet he is also careless as a rival manages to bug Harry by way of a pen given to him at a convention.
In Harry's latest assignment he has recorded a conversation of two people walking around in Union Square, a feat that he is proud of.
However as Harry listens further to the conversation we hear fragments of them talking but we miss the beats and stresses of the words. Are the couple plotting or being plotted against.
Harrison Ford and Robert Duvall make minor appearances as members of the corporation who have hired Harry for the job.
Harry feels that lives are in danger and is getting increasingly paranoid and delusional.
The film is a slow burner but not as dull as the similar themed Blow Up. The Conversation jolts you with its visions and unravelling of its mystery.
It is still a minor piece even though it forms part of the group of mid 1970s conspiracy thrillers which includes The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor, and All the President's Men.
The reason being that although it has attracted a cult following and critical praise. The Conversation is too slow and downbeat, almost as Coppola wanted to contrast it with the grandeur of the Godfather films.