MOVIE REVIEW: The Conversation (1974)

The Conversation is definately a product of it's time. Released around the time of the Watergate Scandal, it raises some serious ethical questions of the consequences of wiretapping (nowadays, this would be relevant as Dick Cheney's worst nightmare). This was directed by Francis Ford Coppola the same year he released The Godfather: Part II. Interestingly enough, he would go on to beat his own movie for Best Picture at Oscar time. But was it a deserved win? Definitely. The Conversation, while it has moments of great tension that represent the best of psychological thrillers, builds up to an unsatisfying conclusion.

Set in early 70s San Francisco, Gene Hackman plays a professional, self-employed "bugger" who is commissioned by a wealthy businessman to tap his lover (ha-ha...) while she is out, because he suspects she is having an affair. During recording of the titular conversation with "the other guy", Hackman picks up an incriminating message, and zealously sets out to find the meaning of it. Stylistically, this is one of the film's high points; the editing goes back-and-forth between the sound booth and repeated footage of the couple speaking as if we're envisioning exactly what is going on. To enhance this effect, eerie distortions are placed over the dialogue so the audience knows they're not actually watching "cinema", but a fabricated image based solely on the voices. As Hackman begins a descent into madness later on in the film, he starts having freakish visions of murder that almost belong in a horror film. The change in tone is jarring, but it works wonderfully.

Sadly, while thrills are plentiful in The Conversation, not so much can be said about the plot. Fans of Michael Haneke may enjoy this more than I did, as I wouldn't be surprised if this landmark film influenced his work. The film has a very nihlilistic theme running through it, but I felt as if I was set up for some sort of resolution for the main character and his antagonists. Unfortunately, there is none, and the ending feels extremely anticlimactic and abrupt. I literally sat there thinking "That was it?" And sometimes there's a purpose for those types of endings, but for me, it simply wasn't all that clear. All I can say is, it's a good thing the Academy chose The Godfather: Part II over this.

6/10

Peace,
- Jon