Two of the greatest films of the 1970s would have to be Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II". Both films are brilliantly made, amazingly polished and are considered by many to be classics. A much lesser-known film by Coppola came out between them, "The Conversation". However, despite being a much smaller sort of film, it has gained a cult-like following--and many folks think it's among the best films of the 1970s as well. It's as if they see it as an 'undiscovered' film by Coppolla--one the public never really embraced like these other much more famous films. Well, after seeing it, I did appreciate it and am glad I saw it--but I also think the word classic is not one I'd associate with the film. It's good...but not much more.
The film stars Gene Hackman as a slimy private investigator who specializes in providing surveillance for his customers. In other words, he uses bugs to eavesdrop on others and the morality of this hasn't so far been a major issue for him. However, in a current case, he is having some misgivings. After all, the young couple who he's listening to with his high tech devices seem like nice people. And, he starts to worry about HOW this information might be used or misused--since in another case, his information he gathered actually led to someone being killed.
This sort of topic isn't at all surprising for 1974. Think about it--this came out around the same time that the Watergate affair came to light. I am sure that this has something to do with why the film has a huge fan base. However, despite the timely subject matter and an interesting plot, the film could have been a lot better for me. It had a lot of slow points--and I felt my attention waning many times-- much of it because the acting was so restrained (almost zombie-like). It also had a lot of portions that made you wonder if what you were seeing was real or it it was in the main character's imagination--something that didn't seem to work for me. Still, it's a highly inventive film and is worth your time--just make sure you can stay awake and focused--ultimately it is worth it.
The film stars Gene Hackman as a slimy private investigator who specializes in providing surveillance for his customers. In other words, he uses bugs to eavesdrop on others and the morality of this hasn't so far been a major issue for him. However, in a current case, he is having some misgivings. After all, the young couple who he's listening to with his high tech devices seem like nice people. And, he starts to worry about HOW this information might be used or misused--since in another case, his information he gathered actually led to someone being killed.
This sort of topic isn't at all surprising for 1974. Think about it--this came out around the same time that the Watergate affair came to light. I am sure that this has something to do with why the film has a huge fan base. However, despite the timely subject matter and an interesting plot, the film could have been a lot better for me. It had a lot of slow points--and I felt my attention waning many times-- much of it because the acting was so restrained (almost zombie-like). It also had a lot of portions that made you wonder if what you were seeing was real or it it was in the main character's imagination--something that didn't seem to work for me. Still, it's a highly inventive film and is worth your time--just make sure you can stay awake and focused--ultimately it is worth it.