Review of The Conversation (1974) by Nate W — 02 Mar 2009

While Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part II" was getting all the attention, his real achievement of 1974 was this smaller but much more involving thriller. Gene Hackman gives one of his best performances as Harry Caul, a secretive surveillance expert whose ironically values his own privacy above all else, but consequently shuts anything of value out of his life.

Things only get worse for him as he allows his guilt and paranoia to push him deeper into the mysterious conversation he was commissioned to record. The twist ending is satisfying, but even more potent is the film's unsettling denouement, where we see the unrepairable consequences of the decisions and assumptions Caul has made.

Big thumbs up to legendary sound mixer Walter Mirsch for his sophisticated audio design.