The Conversation

Starring: Gene Hackman Director: Francis Ford Coppola

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
• Dolby Digital Mono - French
• Subtitles - English - Optional

Additional Release Material:

• Audio Commentary - 1.Francis Ford Coppola - Director
                               2.Walter Murch - Editor
• Featurette - CLOSE-UP ON THE CONVERSATION
• Trailers - 1.Original Theatrical Trailer

Major Awards:

Cannes - Palme d'Or (1974)

Description by OLDIES.com:

Francis Ford Coppola's provoking mystery-drama explores the morality of privacy and stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, expert surveillance man. A routine wire-tapping job turns into a modern nightmare as Harry hears something disturbing in his recording of a young couple in a park. He begins to worry about what the tape may be used for and becomes involved in a maze of secrecy and murder. Set in San Francisco, the film also features Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford and Frederic Forrest. Nominated for Best Picture of 1974, The Conversation was made between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II

Product Description:

Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION is a towering achievement, a masterfully constructed portrait of one man's descent into madness. Gene Hackman delivers a devastating performance as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who gets paid to invade the privacy of strangers. The film's classic opening shot is a long, slow zoom into Union Square in San Francisco, as a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams), are having what seems like an otherwise mundane conversation. However, when it is revealed that Harry and his assistant Stanley (John Cazale) are eavesdropping from a nearby van, it becomes clear that something more serious is happening. Later, after Harry painstakingly reconstructs the conversation from several different audio sources, he uncovers a snippet of dialogue that unsettles him. Suspicious of his client's motives for wanting the tape, Harry becomes uncharacteristically worried about the people he may have endangered, sending him into a dangerous mental tailspin.

With Harry Caul, Coppola and Hackman have managed to create one of cinema's most unforgettable characters, a man who appears to be in control on the outside but who is, in fact, crumbling on the inside. Though Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, and Allen Garfield deliver standout supporting turns, THE CONVERSATION is Hackman's show. Inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's BLOW UP (1966), THE CONVERSATION in turn went on to influence Brian De Palma's own surveillance thriller, BLOW OUT (1981).

Plot Keywords:

Classic | Detectives | Disturbing | Drama | Essential Cinema | Murder | Mystery | Psychodrama | Recommended | Suspense | Theatrical Release

Exerpts:

"I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder." -- Harry Caul (Gene Hackman)

"I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference." -- Martin Stett (Harrison Ford) to Caul

"There's no moment between human beings that I cannot record." -- Bernie Moran (Allen Garfield)

Production Notes:

• Theatrical release: April 7, 1974
• Shot on location in San Francisco, California.
• THE CONVERSATION was made by Francis Ford Coppola in the time between THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER PART II.
• The film was written over five years before production began.
• Tony Scott's 1998 film, ENEMY OF THE STATE, makes numerous references to THE CONVERSATION. Gene Hackman's character in Scott's film, Brill, is essentially an extension of Harry Caul character.
• THE CONVERSATION was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1995.
• In 1975, Coppola became the first person to ever receive two Oscar nominations for Best Director in the same year (the other film being THE GODFATHER PART II).

Cast and Crew: