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The Conversation

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The Conversation (1974)

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98 %
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Reviews Counted: 41

Fresh: 40

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 8.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: 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... 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). [More]

Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams

Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, Robert Duvall, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Composer: David Shire

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 12, 2000

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
  • Single Side - Dual Layer

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

Reviews for The Conversation

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
10/24/07
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
Ratings Image

Coppola manages to turn an expert thriller into a portrayal of the conflict between ritual and responsibility without ever letting the levels of tension subside or the complicated plot get muddled.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/12/07
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

A movie of real authority.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
08/12/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

Well ahead of its time, this is one of Coppola's masterpieces, a prophetic film about paranoia, the growing role of technology in our daily lives, and the impossibility of privacy even in public spaces.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
10/31/06
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

A bleak and devastatingly brilliant film.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
11/14/05
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image

An absorbing character study of a paranoid loner. Hackman is superb.

comment Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
Ratings Image

brilliant conspiracy thriller

comment Comment
08/26/05
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
06/25/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
01/14/05
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
12/15/04
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca
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No review available.

comment Comment
09/07/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
04/15/04
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image

Hackman e Coppola têm trajetórias profissionais longas e brilhantes – e, assim, não é um elogio qualquer dizer que este é um dos melhores filmes na carreira de ambos.

comment Comment
04/01/04
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Grapples with the moral issue at stake in a country where technology has outstripped out knowledge of how to use and control it

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
01/18/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
01/12/04
Michael Dequina
Mr. Brown's Movies
Ratings Image

Intense, moody, piece of cinematic paranoia.

comment Comment
11/04/03
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ratings Image

Outdated techno-thriller. Hackman is great, but it doesn't hold up.

comment 1 Comment
07/14/03
Fred Topel
About.com
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
06/25/03
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
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Latest News for The Conversation

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