IMDb > The Conversation (1974)
The Conversation
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The Conversation (1974) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writer:
Francis Ford Coppola (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Conversation on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1974 (Japan) more
Tagline:
Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business. He can record any conversation between two people anywhere. So far, three people are dead because of him. more
Plot:
A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 11 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(40 articles)
Heat and Logan’s Run Blu-ray Reviews
 (From Collider.com. 10 November 2009, 10:26 PM, PST)

Tao Ruspoli's Top Ten Films of All Time
 (From ioncinema. 3 November 2009)

User Comments:
Easily the top Suspense Film of all time! more (215 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
113 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono | Dolby Digital (restored version)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the original script, Harry Caul was the owner of the building in which he lived. There was a deleted scene where he had a meeting with the other tenants. One of the people there was Mrs. Evangelista. Now, we only know of her character when Caul speaks to her on the phone after she leaves him a birthday present. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Harry is offered a cookie by Martin Stett, Harry declines. He does pick one up from Stett's desk but drops it back in the bowl again. After Stett picks up the tapes we see Harry walk back to the desk holding a cookie from nowhere and drops the cookie in the bowl before taking back the tapes. more
Quotes:
Martin Stett: I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Munich (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Sophisticated Lady more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "The Conversation" based on a novel?
Is it true that Francis Ford Coppola was a wire-tapper himself?
more
52 out of 74 people found the following comment useful.
Easily the top Suspense Film of all time!, 23 June 2002
Author: Jon (jon@hlutke.com) from Napervill, Il

Harry Caul: `I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder.'



Two weeks ago I wrote a review of `The Silence of the Lambs' I said I thought that it was one of the greatest suspense films of all time. Well Francis Ford Coppola's ingenious and frightening film isn't one of the best suspense films of all time; it simply is the greatest suspense film of all time. It follows professional ease dropper Harry Caul's job on a conversation that goes way beyond anything that he ever could expect. This film is truly something else in its own right. Coppola is such a master, such a brilliant mind. This film is him at his best, after `The Godfather' and before part two. He makes this film so brilliantly and so knowing of what emotions the audience will feel, every pause and every silence is direct and timed. The film is completely intentional. It is constructed off of films like Michelangelo Antonioni's `Blow-up' or most Hitchcock films. Coppola takes these aspects brought by most of the great filmmakers and takes them to a whole new level of personal texture. He puts so much more into it. Making him (I can't say this enough) one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and most misunderstood. His films are like pie, they look good, they taste good, heck they even smell good, but you never really know what they are made of. All his films are deeper then they seem, it takes a true (TRUE!) film lover to respect what influences the man has made. Look at it like this, the greatest Hollywood film of all time, `The Godfather,' the greatest War film of all time `Apocalypse Now,' The greatest Sequel of all time `The Godfather Part II,' and the greatest Independent/Suspense film of all time `The Conversation.' What else is there to conquer? Science Fiction? His next film `Megalopolis' will tackle that void. Who cares about his slips, he has made some of the greatest films of all time.



In this film his talent is at its best with an involving, brilliantly executed screenplay and flawless direction. He makes cookies into Danish, if any other man ever made this film it would be good no doubt, but the greatest suspense film of all time? I think not. Harry Caul's (Hackman) character is so deep and so magnified. He is such a character's character; this film is a pure and simple character study. Not to mention the flawless cinematography and music. The little jazz piano riff fits the film perfectly and the cinematography is so mechanical like a piece of surveillance equipment. The dialogue in the first few minutes is so perfectly written it makes the viewer cringe wanting to know what it is the couple is saying so when we find out it is more of a gift. The conversation that the film is based on is set up so well all threw out the film, the more we hear the more we think, it is repetition at its perfection. The repetition is a true part of the film, the more the viewer hears something they ask themselves why am I hearing this again, what does it mean? Then the conversation tears at the viewer until they fall apart, just like Harry. The viewer understands his motivations, they see his reasons. We are set up and moved around this maze of murder and mayhem, we are Harry (J). This is just one of many brilliant aspects of the film. It never dives down or falls off it always stays paranoid like the main character. `The Conversation' is a haunting and well constructed masterpiece that molds great acting with brilliant storytelling. This is what films in this day and age should try to do. But they won't, they never will, and `The Conversation' will hold its ground as the most thoughtful and suspenseful film of all time.



Mark: He'd kill us if he got the chance.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Blood welling out of the toilet... jeffreyholmes
Watched this two days ago... edodaddy
Where to get a raincoat like Harry's ryan06091985
So boring!!!!!!! sea99doo
Boring, Bland, And Uninteresting.... exclusiveburner
Changed My Mind About Gene Hackman reader4
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