1974 - The Conversation
I'm back in Sydney once again, though I'll have another brief getaway next week when I'll be shooting a commercial for a cruise line company. The ad is being shot on an actual cruise ship during a regular four-day sailing, so apart from the approximate half-day that I'll be required to work, I'll have the rest of the time free to enjoy the cruise. Nice work if you can get it ... and I got it.
Back to the task at hand. Just before I left Los Angeles, I squeezed in a viewing of another of 1974's Best Picture nominees...
The Conversation
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr
Academy Awards:
3 nominations
0 wins
Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) leads a team in secretly recording an intimate outdoor conversation between a couple (Williams and Forrest) who appear to be concerned for their safety. Upon later analysis of the recordings, Harry begins to suspect that his mysterious client, known simply as the Director, may be up to no good, but the further he digs, the more danger he finds himself in.
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1974 seems to be the year for slow-paced cinema. Just like Chinatown, the storyline in The Conversation takes its sweet time. In fact, there isn't much storyline at all, to be honest. The basic plot is set up in the first couple of scenes (which are some of the slowest of the whole film) and then barely moves forward until the final act. But before you misunderstand, none of that is intended as a criticism. While there may not be much advancement of plot, The Conversation is rife with fascinating characters and relationships, in addition to a thick layer of paranoid tension that keeps the audience hooked. Consequently, when the climactic action finally arrives, it's nothing short of mesmerising.
Of course, the leisurely pace of this film is almost certainly no accident. Francis Ford Coppola ingeniously endows his audience with the perspective of the central character. Just as Harry has to wait patiently as he records a conversation, so too does the audience. Likewise, the tedious work of playing back the recording again and again to analyse the subjects' speech is also experienced by us in all its repetitive monotony. And during that repetition, Coppola cleverly cuts in footage of the actual conversation, so we're not only listening to the surveilled couple, but we're watching them, as well, for the complete voyeuristic experience.
A slew of famous faces, many before they hit the big time, show up in supporting roles - Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, and a spectacular Teri Garr who steals the show in a one-scene role. Allen Garfield, too, is worthy of note, brilliantly sleazy as Harry's arrogant competition. Keen-eyed viewers will also recognise a brief (and uncredited) cameo from Robert Duvall. But it's Gene Hackman's (pictured) show in the end, truly at the top of his game as the reserved perfectionist who gets himself in too deep. Aside from Best Picture, The Conversation only picked up two other nods, for Coppola's original screenplay and, appropriately for a movie about sound recording, Best Sound.
Back to the task at hand. Just before I left Los Angeles, I squeezed in a viewing of another of 1974's Best Picture nominees...
The ConversationDirector:
Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr
Academy Awards:
3 nominations
0 wins
Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) leads a team in secretly recording an intimate outdoor conversation between a couple (Williams and Forrest) who appear to be concerned for their safety. Upon later analysis of the recordings, Harry begins to suspect that his mysterious client, known simply as the Director, may be up to no good, but the further he digs, the more danger he finds himself in.
.jpg)
1974 seems to be the year for slow-paced cinema. Just like Chinatown, the storyline in The Conversation takes its sweet time. In fact, there isn't much storyline at all, to be honest. The basic plot is set up in the first couple of scenes (which are some of the slowest of the whole film) and then barely moves forward until the final act. But before you misunderstand, none of that is intended as a criticism. While there may not be much advancement of plot, The Conversation is rife with fascinating characters and relationships, in addition to a thick layer of paranoid tension that keeps the audience hooked. Consequently, when the climactic action finally arrives, it's nothing short of mesmerising.Of course, the leisurely pace of this film is almost certainly no accident. Francis Ford Coppola ingeniously endows his audience with the perspective of the central character. Just as Harry has to wait patiently as he records a conversation, so too does the audience. Likewise, the tedious work of playing back the recording again and again to analyse the subjects' speech is also experienced by us in all its repetitive monotony. And during that repetition, Coppola cleverly cuts in footage of the actual conversation, so we're not only listening to the surveilled couple, but we're watching them, as well, for the complete voyeuristic experience.
A slew of famous faces, many before they hit the big time, show up in supporting roles - Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, and a spectacular Teri Garr who steals the show in a one-scene role. Allen Garfield, too, is worthy of note, brilliantly sleazy as Harry's arrogant competition. Keen-eyed viewers will also recognise a brief (and uncredited) cameo from Robert Duvall. But it's Gene Hackman's (pictured) show in the end, truly at the top of his game as the reserved perfectionist who gets himself in too deep. Aside from Best Picture, The Conversation only picked up two other nods, for Coppola's original screenplay and, appropriately for a movie about sound recording, Best Sound.
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