Review of The Conversation (1974) by Michael A — 26 Jan 2010

In the midst of his massive 70s films - Apocalypse Now, the first two parts of The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola put out a small character study called The Conversation, about a surveillance expert who finds himself isolated from the world around him and beginning to feel the ramifications of his actions.

Far from the sweeping operatics of those other films, The Conversation is committedly small, with a gradual pace, a relative dearth of dialogue, and a simple story. And yet, somehow The Conversation rivals all of those masterpieces, if not surpasses them.

Much of the credit has to go to Gene Hackman's masterful performance; with a lot of silence and a deeply private character to play, Hackman nonetheless fully realizes Harry Caul as the deeply tragic and broken individual he has become.

But Coppola is no less to blame for the film's success; his direction gives the film the feel of some sort of strange waking dream, with ghostly voices emanating from recordings and a sense that our perceptions are not quite right - all until the film becomes a waking nightmare.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what The Conversation is - is it a study in paranoia? In guilt? In barriers that we use to separate from people? In blame? In religion? Maybe it's about all of these, or maybe none.

But it's a compelling, haunting film that quietly gets under your skin and stays there, leaving its isolated and unsettled mood long after the credits roll.