FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: The Conversation [DVD] [1974]

The Conversation [DVD] [1974]
enlarge	Director: Francis Ford Coppola Actors: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £2.79 as of 24/11/2009 23:35 GMT details You Save: £13.20 (83%) New (22) Used (5) from £2.75 Seller: halfpricedvds Rating: 21 reviews Sales Rank: 3415 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 108 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3 Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5017188812191 ASIN: B0000TZ7IG Theatrical Release Date: 1974 Release Date: August 1, 2005 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 21 1 2 3 4 5 Next » Slow-burn genius February 25, 2004 Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK) 39 out of 43 found this review helpful Forget the fact that The Conversation didn't get the headlines or awards of the Godfather. No flashy razamatazz, just quality writing, directing and acting, not least the finest performance of a glittering career by Gene Hackman as the intensely private and paranoid sound recording expert Harry Caul, who uncovers a plot, but finds himself digging too deep and losing control. The subtlety of Hackman is evident from the spare dialogue - he says little, but expresses his character's thoughts and emotions as though you could read his mind. pThis is an intense, smouldering character study with a brilliant twist, fully deserving its place in my personal top 10 films of all time. As with all the best films, it stands repeated watching to appreciate the hidden depths within its apparently simple architecture.pFurthermore, at this price it is an absolute bargain. Buy and enjoy! Coppola's finest - a masterful film of suspense and paranoia January 3, 2001 21 out of 24 found this review helpful 'The Conversation' concerns Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), a saxophone playing surveillance expert, who records a conversation between two people in a busy San Francisco square. It should have been a routine job for him but its contents haunt him and he gradually descends into paranoia.pThe film appears to be a classic 70s thriller in the vein of 'The Parallax View' or 'The French Connection' but is, in many ways, more similar to European art films, particularly Antonioni's 'Blow Up'. It is a consideration of the morality of surveillance and a study of the crippling of a man overcome with guilt and fear.pThe film deserves considerable re-viewing not only because of the elaborate growth of Coppola's screenplay but also to consider his sparse images of despair that constantly enforce the invasion of privacy. Gene Hackman delves so deeply into Harry's character that it is almost stifling while David Shire's score is constantly unsettling. Walter Murch provides the innovative sound design and also helps to create the film's atmosphere with his beautiful editing.pThe film was the basis for the recent Tony Scott film 'Enemy of the State' and even features Gene Hackman as a Harry Caul like character but the Hollywood update pales in comparison with the original.pThis is a considered, intelligent and crafted film and seems more personal than the other, more familiar Coppola classics. George Orwell warned us.... September 26, 2005 Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) 39 out of 46 found this review helpful br /Most of us know at least one person who can compartmentalize her or his life, separating business from pleasure, career from family, etc. Such people have exceptional focus and determination. Brilliantly portrayed by Gene Hackman, Harry Caul is such a person. (Even his girlfriend Amy, played by Teri Garr, does not know where he lives.) Harry is an expert technician who is retained to conduct electronic surveillance of those identified by his clients. In effect, he is a high-tech private investigator. What he records becomes evidence of illegal, unethical, or immoral behavior. Harry has no personal interest in the private lives he invades surreptitiously. But then he accepts an assignment and begins to suspect that the subjects of his surveillance will be murdered. The "compartments" in his life which Harry has so carefully separated begin to merge (albeit gradually) and he begins to have second thoughts about how he earns a living. Of course, he is better qualified than any other character in the film to understand (if not yet fully appreciate) the implications of an invasion of privacy. Under Francis Ford Coppola's brilliant direction, Harry begins to feel paranoid. br / br /I view The Conversation as a dark film because its raises so many questions which seem even more relevant today than they were in 1974. How secure can any life be? Who is accumulating personal as well as professional data about whom? Why? Satellites convey camneras thast can take photographs of a license plate. All of the data on computer hard drives can be recovered. DNA tests can determine whether or not a monarch was poisoned hundreds of years ago. In so many ways, "there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide" from modern technologies. What intrigues me most about Harry Caul is his growing sense of dislocation and vulnerability as the conflict between his personal conscience and professional objectivity intensifies. The assignment for The Director (Robert Duvall) to conduct surveillance on Ann (Cindy Williams) and Mark (Frederic Forest) serves as a trigger that activates self-doubts and insecurities which Harry has presumably suppressed and denied for many years. br / br /For me, the final scene is most memorable because it's so ambiguous. To what extent has Harry invaded his own privacy? What has he learned? How will he now proceed with his personal life and career? For whatever reasons, only in recent years has this film received the praise it deserves but was denied when it first appeared almost 20 years ago. It seems to get even better each time it is seen again, especially in the DVD format which offers clearer image and sound as well as several excellent supplementary items such as commentaries by Coppola and his supervising editor Walter Murch as well as a "Close-Up on the Conversation" featurette. Flawed brilliancy September 7, 2007 Dennis Littrell (SoCal) 15 out of 18 found this review helpful In-between The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), Francis Ford Coppola made this techno nerd favorite, a film he had wanted to make for years, but couldn't get the backing until The Godfather gave him the clout. Coppola has said this is the movie of his that he likes best, and Gene Hackman who stars as Harry Caul, the paranoid, nerdish surveillance snoop who suddenly develops a conscience, said it was his favorite role. In the case of Hackman, one can see why. He dominates the screen with a subtle touch and some serious acting skills. In the case of Coppola, well, I'm sure in his heart of hearts he knows he made at least three better films. And of course, "favorite" doesn't mean "best." br / br /Because of some glaring plot holes and assorted implausibilities plus a slow pace, this film is not liked by some viewers. But it has a kind of haunting power, partly based on the studied camera work, and partly based on a chilling (and clever) story that explodes in Harry Caul's face and surprises the viewer. Also there is a nice underlying tension that Coppola develops and maintains that makes us want to know what is going on and to find out how it ends. br / br /Cindy Williams of TV's "Laverne and Shirley" fame plays Ann, the wife of a Fortune 500 type exec who is being recorded as she has a conversation with a friend as they walk around Central Park. Harry Caul is doing the snooping. It isn't clear why the conversation is important, and even though we hear bits of it again and again, it seems innocent, although one notes, Cindy Williams isn't smiling. As the plot nears denouement, however, we and Harry Caul and the husband, who has hired Caul, realize something is being hidden behind the denotative meaning of the words that are spoken. Part of the intrigue is to catch the real meaning of what is said. br / br /The plot holes? Well, it is unlikely that super secret Harry Caul would invite rival snoopers to his studio for a party. He is so paranoid about people knowing his business that he loses his girlfriend Amy (Teri Garr) because he won't give her his phone number or tell her where he lives. And the way he tears up his apartment at the end looking for the hidden bug is silly (but psychologically correct of course since he has gone full blown obsessive). Rationally speaking, he would be better off just moving. I understand that in the original script penned by Coppola, Harry owned the apartment building and that would explain why he chose to tear up his apartment looking for the recording device rather than move somewhere else. And think of the professional challenge! br / br /Frankly I didn't mind any of the inconsistencies that viewers have pointed out. Yes, he would suspect that the pen put in his pocket by rival snooper Bernie Moran (Allen Garfield) might be a microphone, and, no, the hidden bug was NOT in his saxophone, but may have been in his eyeglasses (and anyway it doesn't matter). What I didn't like were the dream sequences that you couldn't separate from reality. I also didn't like the pristine clean toilet in room 773 that overflowed with bright red blood when he flushes it. Not likely, when you think about it. br / br /But none of this matters. This is an intriguing film with a significant theme, namely that the invasion of privacy has consequences, which is as relevant today as it was then. Look for a young Harrison Ford as Martin Stett, the exec's assistant, and for Elizabeth MacRae as a caloric-challenged seductress. But by all means see this for Francis Ford Coppola, one of the greats. The Conversation is rated #169 at the Internet Movie Database. It's a must see for Coppola fans. Paranoia classic February 1, 2004 Jason Parkes (Worcester, UK) 34 out of 43 found this review helpful Coppola, from The Godfather (1972) to Apocalypse Now! (1979) was as wonderful as any director of the New Hollywood/Movie Brat generation. Pity about what came after- see Easy Riders, Raging Bulls...The Conversation was the sole film he made for 'the directors group'- founded with Peter Bogdanovich William Friedkin and was not a huge success, but got him Oscar nominations (Best Picture, screenplay) alongside those Coppola gained for The Godfather Part Two. pIt fits in alongside other works of the era, paranoid films that reflected the state of tension around Watergate- Chinatown and the so-called 'paranoia trilogy' of Alan J. Pakula: Klute, The Parallax View All the President's Men. The Conversation's influence is evident on later films, from Blow Out to JFK and also the British thriller, Defence of the Realm. Its roots stem, like De Palma's Blow Out from European cinema, notably Antonioni's Blow Up (1966). pCoppola, like many other movie brats, was steeped in auteur cinema and The Conversation is full of film school tricks- notably that centred around editing and sound. Gene Hackman is the star, but, arguably, so is master editor Walter Murch (whose book In the Blink of an Eye is a must read). Over and over we return to certain scenes and more is revealed- The Conversation is great, as it remains intelligent and reveals more as the film continues. pHackman delivers one of his greatest performances as surveillance expert Harry Caul- a man who has everything in its right place, living only for his work and in a social vaccum from others. It opens with the conversation of the title and then we meet Caul and his peers, including the great John Cazale. Caul is very cagey about everything- his birthday, his privacy, and he begins to have moral worries regarding the conversation he has taped (between Frederic Forrest Cindy Williams, who appear to be lovers- the latter married to an uncredited Robert Duvall). Caul is found to have been implicated in a triple-murder due to surveillance he took in the past (Travolta's character has a similar back story in Blow Out).Caul refuses to hand it over is harassed by a young Harrison Ford; following a party with his peers, Caul is crossed several times and set on a path to find out the true meaning of The Conversation...pCoppola's film remains one of his best films, despite its nod to European cinema, its bleak tone and downbeat ending are suitably refreshing. Is there anything as brilliant as Caul tearing his isolated world apart at the end?- they certainly don't make them like this anymore (though the downbeat end of The Pledge made me think a little of this...). This is a welcome reissue, for me one of the great works of the New Hollywood era, easily sitting alongside Chinatown,Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, Targets, The Parallax View, The Long Goodbye The French Connection. An undoubted classic and a film like The Conformist and If... that I return to again and again... Showing reviews 1-5 of 21 1 2 3 4 5 Next »

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