Review of The Conversation (1974) by Jason P — 04 Sep 2010

Simply-put this is one of the best films I've ever seen. But then in the 1970s Francis Ford Coppola made *4* of the best films I have ever seen. All are about the outlandish or even criminal lengths to which a person might have to go to in order to be responsible--whether as the patriarch of a family and a neighborhood, a private investigator who refuses to let what he finds be used for evil, or an absolutely-loyal military officer committed to victory at any cost.

The first 2 are the Godfather, Parts I and II, the 3rd is The Conversation, and the 4th is Apocalypse Now.

In The Conversation Gene Hackman stars as Harry Caul, the top private surveillance technician in the country. An excessively guarded and solitary man, he is also an austere Catholic. We learn much about Harry (all of it against his will), and in time recognize a man who has been running from his unwitting facilitation of a terrible crime--until his meticulous work in a new investigation confronts him with a choice.

Hackman is perfect for this role: Well-mannered and discreet, but strangely-unnerving, he slowly becomes a powerfully-sympathetic protagonist as we learn why he has tried not to become involved with his clients' purposes--and why he will again. Harrison Ford, who only landed his part because he was working for Coppola as a carpenter on George Lucas' reference(!), is actually one of the creepiest things about this film in his role as Martin Stett, who insists he is merely a messenger of the "Director.".

I'm hard-pressed to think of a film in which so little is as it seems, or with such consequence.

Point of interest: Astonishingly, this film premiered in the same year as Coppola's The Godfather, Part II. As a result Coppola had 2 movies up for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1974.