History Film / TheConversation

* DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoYou: [[spoiler: Mark and Ann mention that the Director would kill them if he had the chance. It's unclear whether or not this is their sole motive for killing him, or whether it's true, but he does have a somewhat intimidating reaction to hearing the tape]].

* TheFaceless: Harry's employer, played by a very well known actor, is only ever seen in deep shadows.

* {{Jerkass}}: Bernie, hands down.

''The Conversation'' is a 1974 {{psychological thriller}} film written and directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and starring Creator/GeneHackman, with a supporting cast that includes [[Series/LaverneAndShirley Cindy Williams]], Frederic Forrest, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Teri Garr, and Creator/HarrisonFord.

* TheCameo: Robert Duvall as the Director.

''The Conversation'' is a 1974 {{psychological thriller}} film written and directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and starring Creator/GeneHackman, with a supporting cast that includes [[Series/LaverneAndShirley Cindy Williams]], Frederic Forrest, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Teri Garr, Robert Duvall, and Creator/HarrisonFord.

''The Conversation'' is a 1974 {{psychological thriller}} film written and directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and starring Creator/GeneHackman.

Harry Caul (Hackman) is a paranoid, socially-withdrawn surveillance expert in San Francisco who runs a personal business in which he spies on people's conversations at the behest of his clients and reports the information back to them. He is strictly professional in his activities, never questioning ''why'' his clients want those he surveys spied on, nor intervening accordingly. However, his latest assignment has been to spy on Ann ([[LaverneAndShirley Cindy Williams]]), the wife of the director of a big company, and her lover Mark (Frederic Forrest). He hears in their recorded conversations the phrase: ''[[ArcWords "He'd kill us if he got the chance."]]'' He thus theorizes that Ann's husband suspects she is having an affair and is planning to murder her and Mark, and thereby is torn over whether to adhere to his non-intervention rule or do something.

* OvertRendezvous: The titular conversation is recorded on one of these, with the speaking couple walking all around a San Francisco park trying to fend off tails and Caul using various shotgun microphones and undercover helpers with secret mikes walking around trying to pick the best audio possible.

%%* BigBrotherIsWatching

%%* DreamSequence

%%* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: The last scene.

%%* OvertRendezvous
%%* ProperlyParanoid

%%* RewindReplayRepeat: Almost the ''entire movie'' revolves around this trope.

''The Conversation'' is a 1974 {{psychological thriller}} film directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and starring Creator/GeneHackman.

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/conversation_9890.jpg]]

* MeaningfulEcho: The recording of the titular conversation is played over and over, but its true meaning isn't understood until the [[OnceMoreWithClarity final repetition]].

-->'''Ann''': I think he was once somebody's baby boy, and he had a mother and a father who loved him, and now there he is, half dead on a park bench, and where are his mother or his father or all his uncles now?

* RewindReplayRepeat: Almost the ''entire movie'' revolves around this trope.

* TechnologyPorn: In spades. Aligning playheads, long distance mikes re-mounted and aimed by snipers, and each multiple audio pass savored for its methodical slowness. In the digital age, it still qualifies as analog porn that would make the typical DieselPunk aficionado blush.
** This attention to detail got the film some unusual recognition when it turned out that it used many of the same techniques used by the Nixon administration. Coppola insisted that the screenplay had been written in the mid-sixties using conventional research and technical advisers.

* BigBrotherIsWatching

* DreamSequence

* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: The last scene.

* NoExceptYes: When Harry Caul confronts Martin Stett.
-->'''Harry''': Why are you following me?
-->'''Martin''': I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference.

* OvertRendezvous
* ProperlyParanoid

** And what was in the hotel toilet?

Harry Caul (Hackman) is a paranoid, socially-withdrawn surveillance expert in San Francisco who runs a personal business in which he spies on people's conversations at the behest of his clients and reports the information back to them. He is strictly professional in his activities; never questioning ''why'' his clients want those he surveys spied on, nor intervening accordingly. However, his latest assignment has been to spy on Ann ([[LaverneAndShirley Cindy Williams]]), the wife of the director of a big company, and her lover Mark (Frederic Forrest). He hears in their recorded conversations the phrase: ''[[ArcWords "He'd kill us if he got the chance."]]'' He thus theorizes that Ann's husband suspects she is having an affair and is planning to murder her and Mark, and thereby is torn over whether to adhere to his non-intervention rule or do something.

The film is often mistakenly regarded as a reaction to the Watergate scandal. In reality, the resemblance was just a prophetic coincidence; the screenplay and filming were completed prior to the scandal hitting the press. Furthermore, Coppola explained in the DVD commentary he was inspired by the earlier film ''[[Film/BlowUp Blowup]]'', which dealt with a similar premise, but with photography.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Ann and Mark murder the director. The director's assistant, with whom they're working, knows that Caul knows the truth. They plant a bug in his own apartment and tell him about it. He tears up the place in a paranoid frenzy trying to find it, but is unable to. He resorts to playing the only thing he has left in his life: His saxophone.]]

** The last name of Harry is Caul, which sounds like "Call." Also, there may be a connection with the meaning of the word caul: A piece of membrane that can cover a newborn's head and face. On [[WordOfGod his DVD commentary]], Coppola says the spelling was a typographical error by his assistant, but Coppola recognized and liked the dual meaning.

** One of his marks for surveillance is named Mark.

* NoButYes: When Harry Caul confronts Martin Stett.

** Ann's line about the homeless man on the bench is heard several times, and it could equally apply to Harry, who was sitting on a bench nearby when she said it.

* MeaningfulName: The last name of Harry is Caul, which sounds like "Call." Also, there may be a connection with the meaning of the word caul: A piece of membrane that can cover a newborn's head and face. On [[WordOfGod his DVD commentary]], Coppola says the spelling was a typographical error by his assistant, but Coppola recognized and liked the dual meaning.

Harry Caul (Hackman) is a paranoid, socially-withdrawn surveillance expert in San Francisco who runs a personal business in which he spies on people's conversations at the behest of his clients and reports the information back to them. He is strictly professional in his activities; never questioning ''why'' his clients want those he surveys spied on, nor intervening accordingly. However, his latest assignment has been to spy on Ann ([[LaverneAndShirley Cindy Williams]]), the wife of the director of a big company, and her lover Marc (Frederic Forrest). He hears in their recorded conversations the phrase: ''[[ArcWords "He'd kill us if he got the chance."]]'' He thus theorizes that Ann's husband suspects she is having an affair and is planning to murder her and Marc, and thereby is torn over whether to adhere to his non-intervention rule or do something.

As it turns out, the theory he has regarding Ann, Marc and the director is [[PlotTwist dreadfully wrong]].

* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The actual conversation was recorded on December 2nd and there are a few reminders of the season here and there (including Ann telling Marc she hadn't bought her husband a present).
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Ann and Marc murder the director. The director's assistant, with whom they're working, knows that Caul knows the truth. They plant a bug in his own apartment and tell him about it. He tears up the place in a paranoid frenzy trying to find it, but is unable to. He resorts to playing the only thing he has left in his life: His saxophone.]]

** Where's the bug in the final scene? [[spoiler:Is it Moran's phone tapping device? Is it in the saxophone? Or is there no bug at all and the phone call was a paranoid hallucination on Harry's part?]] Francis Ford Coppola says [[ShrugOfGod even he doesn't know]].