The Conversation
Robb

Review by Robb Pro

The Conversation 1974

★★★★★

Watched 01 Feb 2024

Paranoia, and the conclusions we draw from limited knowledge and biases. None of us, regardless of our gifts and talents, can be perfect in our judgements and in our actions. Gene Hackmen’s Harry Caul is consistently called the best in his field, a surveillance expert capable of acts of espionage no other can replicate. He is genius, yet incessantly flawed. Terminally lonely. Unable to cope with the guilt of what his talent brings to light. A Catholic guilt that carries a burden of shame.

What Coppola creates is not a film of so much action and betrayal, which I had expected given my experiences with his other high profile movies. Instead, The Conversation is endlessly obsessive and constrained. Quiet, reserved, and beautiful. A film whose every mark is perfect, and whose literal craft nearly flies in the face of its themes of unattainable correction. What’s most impressive is how simple the scope really is, and yet how crushing it’s finale feels. This is what the art form is all about, very well has an argument for Coppola’s best. Certainly one of the best films ever made.

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