Review of The Conversation (1974) by Paul D — 26 Aug 2016

The Conversation is a masterpiece. It has been said many times, but it cannot be said too many. It is a study in paranoia in a world of constant surveillance. It is a quiet thriller, not the rollercoaster ride of chase and action scenes that define the modern thriller, but rather the study of a character - a disfunctional man just doing his job and not wanting to care what that job is. It has the elements of a thriller. A car chase (of sorts), bluff and double bluff, a twist, murder, a hero with a mistake in his past, a honey-trap blonde. But these things are story, not spectical. And it all leads to a perfect dà (C)nouement; a powerful scene which sticks in the memory long after the most films has blurred into insignificance.

Coppola is a the top of his game. His use young Harrison Ford is a character unlike those the modern viewer is used to (unless they recall Coppola's use of him in Apocalypse now). John Cazale is once again, somehow, a scene stealer who does it so subtly you don't even realise he's doing it, and that's often in two-hander scenes with Gene Hackman who as he does at his best truly inhabits the role.

As a film with sound at the very center of the story it is, of course, at an important part of the film. Garbled recordings, whispered phrases and the sound of a eight-track tape being rewound reoccur throughout the film played on screen as well as appearing both psychologically and incidentally.

The film is a complete package and well worth watching.

Oh, and one final note: Don't watch the trailer if you haven't seen the film it's one of those "let's show the ending, because it's pretty good" ones, and it's really better experienced fresh.