The Conversation
1974
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Principal actors: Gene Hackman & Harrison Ford
Gut-level take
An introvert’s greatest nightmare is being observed without knowing it.
Basic plot
Gene Hackman plays a guarded surveillance expert hired to record the conversation of two people in SF’s Union Square but his morality starts to intrude on his professionalism and exactitude.
Themes
- Advanced technology eroding privacy
- Paranoia
- Isolation
- Fear of being duped despite exceptional intelligence and research
- Perception vs reality
Unexpected Awesomeness
- Harrison Ford as a charismatic, ambitious executive assistant
- San Francisco in the 1970s
- Haunting piano score by David Shire
- Old-school character-driven narrative that challenges our current attention spans.
- Cindy Williams looks like Zooey Deschanel! Or vice versa!
See also “Old-School Paranoia” by Benjamin Strong.
