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The Conversation main poster

The Conversation

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7.5/10 • 1.9K

1974-04-071h 54m

CrimeDramaMystery

Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business.

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Directors
Francis Ford Coppola
Writters
Francis Ford Coppola
Editors
Richard Chew

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Gene Hackman

    Gene Hackman

    Harry Caul

  2. John Cazale

    John Cazale

    Stan

  3. Allen Garfield

    Allen Garfield

    William P. 'Bernie' Moran

  4. Frederic Forrest

    Frederic Forrest

    Mark

  5. Cindy Williams

    Cindy Williams

    Ann

  6. Michael Higgins

    Michael Higgins

    Paul

  7. Elizabeth MacRae

    Elizabeth MacRae

    Meredith

  8. Teri Garr

    Teri Garr

    Amy Fredericks

  9. Harrison Ford

    Harrison Ford

    Martin Stett

Reviews4

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talisencrw Avatar

talisencrw

May 2, 2016

10/10

Unfortunately, it appears with every passing day that the great American paranoid political thrillers of the 60's and 70's, with its strongest work bookended by 'The Manchurian Candidate' (eerily foreseeing the JFK assassination) and 'All the President's Men' (placing a coda of closure on the Watergate scandal), simply haven't aged a day, and are as timely as ever in conceptualizing the palpable fear that ordinary citizens have in those in control of their destinies, namely the police and government of their communities. It's the American ideal that any person born, regardless of circumstances, is in control of their destiny, and that with hard work, guile and determination, can make something of himself. Whether that was ever the case is questionable, but it seems more than ever that the people in power are in control of way more than we could ever suppose, or would ever want to know. This was a nice smaller-scale film that, incredulously, Coppola was able to dish up in a run that is one of the finest a director would ever have, up there with Hitchcock's in the late 50's-early 60's, and Melville a decade later. It's definitely excellent work by Hackman (along with his Popeye Doyle in the pair of great 'French Connection' movies), and is up there with the greatest dissertations ever about the double-edged sword of surveillance, namely De Palma's 'Blow Out' and Antonioni's 'Blow-Up'. As a human being, I only wish this film wasn't as important as it is.

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  • The Conversation poster
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  • The Conversation poster
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  • The Conversation poster
  • The Conversation poster
  • The Conversation poster
  • The Conversation poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$1,600,000.00
Revenue
$4,794,457.00
Keywords
shadowingsan francisco, californiatechnologyspyaudio tapeparanoiawiretapsaxophoneconspiracytragic eventsurveillancevoyeur