SummaryWiretapper Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) becomes concerned about recordings he made for a client.
Directed By:Francis Ford Coppola
Written By:Francis Ford Coppola
The Conversation
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
88
User score
Generally Favorable
7.9
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
A shout-out to Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-up, The Conversation perfectly encapsulates the disaffection, alienation, and paranoia infecting America’s body politic in the era of Watergate.
100
What Coppola achieved is a psychodrama about the dangers of being locked in your own private world, of slipping on noise-canceling headphones of any variety. Listening and hearing are not the same thing. Confusing one for the other can have dire consequences.
User score
Generally Favorable
83% Positive
130 Ratings
130 Ratings
11% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
6% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
May 2, 2016
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.
100
A bleak and devastatingly brilliant film.
100
As he is played by Gene Hackman in The Conversation, an expert wiretapper named Harry Caul is one of the most affecting and tragic characters in the movies.
90
A major artistic asset to the film - besides script, direction and the top performances - is supervising editor Walter Murch's sound collage and re-recording.
80
Gene Hackman excels in Francis Ford Coppola's tasteful, incisive 1974 study of the awakening of conscience in an electronic surveillance technician.
60
The Conversation could have used a great deal more vulgar curiosity about its own plot and its own characters. Coppola's good taste has been misplaced on this occasion, but he remains one of our most promising new filmmakers nonetheless. [20 June 1974, p.78]
Dec 8, 2024
9
Who spies on those who spy? As a paranoia-laden thriller it does its job well, though it takes its time to take shape.
Jun 4, 2022
9
i like the part where the guy is showing off his amazing multinational house phone and he for some reason decides that a feature he'd like to either joke about or actually make is playing a harmonica into the receiver. i could never tell if this was just 'april fools' or some kind of weird feature but it's certainly a weird man moment.
Dec 12, 2023
6
A slow-moving character driven thriller drenched in paranoia, masterful sequences, sound design, and incredible performances. But the second act is quite a slog to sit through. It ultimately picks up with a great payoff, but even the jazz sequences with the sax feel awkward and forced. Overall, hard to recommend for modern viewing, but it is an important piece of cinema nonetheless.
Apr 12, 2025
3
Extraordinary sound design isn’t enough to make a compelling experience out of this incoherent trainwreck of conflicting espionage tropes and character clichés.
Jan 5, 2015
0
Studied this in film studies and it is my least favourite film of all time. I despise this slow paced film, so dull. I'd rather spend time with Anton Chigurh. 0/10 - Ben Hazelden
Production Company:
- The Directors Company
- The Coppola Company
- American Zoetrope
Release Date:Apr 7, 1974
Duration:1 h 53 m
Rating:PG
Tagline:Harry Caul will go anywhere to bug a private conversation.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 4 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
