One of those movies that just might be better on headphones than it was in theaters, The Conversation is a study in sound, in listening, and the paranoid extension to that, being listened to. The surveillance technology on display here is frightening, even more frightening for being forty years old. This is also Francis Ford Coppola's most personal movie, which he says time and again in the fascinating audio commentary. Hearing him talk lovingly of the trials and details of its making makes it one of the best commentaries out there, and definitely worth a look.
Of course, The Conversation comes right at that sweet spot in Coppola's career, right after Godfather Part II and right before Apocalypse Now, after he started putting aside more commercial concerns (The Godfather was a blockbuster after all) and before he went all crazy. After Apocalypse Now he's only of limited interest but for most of the 70s he's golden, and The Conversation is an excellent example of how good he could be.
If you haven't seen it, Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a surveillance expert called in by a private interest to record a single, seemingly meaningless public conversation. Initially he's interested only in the technical difficulty of recording two people walking through a public park at lunch hour, roving at random through noises and obstructions. But his professional disinterest starts to erode as the conversation is returned to again and again, with new shades of meaning surfacing. He starts suspecting his employers are using him, that he's being followed, bugged. He's always been an obsessively cautious person, but he's pushed closer and closer into full-on paranoia.
As good as Gene Hackman usually is, there's often an oversized, cartoonish quality to his characters, even in his best roles, which is wonderfully absent here. His Harry Caul is reticent, secretive, quiet, obsessive. Sometimes vain, sometimes cruel. He's snide with others when threatened, he can't express or understand his feelings towards the few women in his life. It's a layered, nuanced performance, and worth ten Popeye Doyles or Little Bills .
But the filmmaking itself is the real star here, how the camera pans like a surveillance video, how snippets of dialogue come in and out of hearing, meaning something different every time. There is much in The Conversaion that remains a mystery, and if it has any failing it's how, in the end, some things are certainly certain while others are left hanging. You almost wish there was more uncertainty across the board, which would make the hanging parts feel more in place.
But all this is touched on in the audio commentary, which is a must for anyone with an interest in 70s cinema.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Francis Ford Coppola audio commentary, which is extensive. Another commentary with the editor, Walter Murch, is still interesting but less so. There's a feaurette on San Fransisco and an early Coppola short, "The Cigar," but the other really great piece is an audio clip of Coppola dictating the script, showing just how much he's invested in every scene.Â
"The Conversation" is on sale October 25, 2011 and is rated PG. Drama, Mystery, Thriller. Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, John Cazale, Allen Garfield.
