'The Conversation' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times

A. O. Scott discusses Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 masterpiece and the end of privacy.
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'The Conversation' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times
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[@DawnietotheMax]

My Dad is in this movie. He's playing the drums in the park scene.

[@nikoskanak6551]

A skilled player indeed

[@timmi59]

That’s awesome

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Like hes acting like a drum or hes a drum player? Sorry im a little slow

[@DawnietotheMax]

@@prilljazzatlanta5070 He's a real drummer. The drumming you hear in that/those scene is him playing the Congos and some other drum.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

@@DawnietotheMax i was being silly but thanks for confirming. Drummers are my favorite musicians, especially jazz drummers

[@65g4]

this is a highly underrated masterpiece

[@DC-zi6se]

Wouldn't call it a masterpiece. But certainly underrated.

[@65g4]

@@DC-zi6se i think its a masterpiece but you dont have to

[@Mmm.charmeleon]

Philip Moore I respect you for replying 6 years later.....

[@swishvicishere7410]

100% a masterpiece, Coppola's magnum opus

[@randywhite3947]

Your neighborhood friend nah it’s a Masterpiece kiddo

[@NoWhereMan95]

Got one of the best jump scares as well. Almost becomes a horror movie towards the end.

[@danielmcdermott138]

@Elitedevil The movie is without question a masterwork, but I was desperate uncomfortably watching it.

[@danielmcdermott138]

You're referring to the toilet?

[@NoWhereMan95]

The toilet scene is great, but seeing the woman pushed up against the glass as well made me jump out of my seat. Totally unexpected.

[@JSavo_]

Great comment. So true I couldn’t ever describe the end but I think you nailed it.

[@bencarlson4300]

Coppola in the 70s might have the best run of masterpieces in film history

[@jonisafreak3]

Kubrick

[@gamepower69.]

@@jonisafreak3 can't we agree it's eqaul

[@jonisafreak3]

@@gamepower69. yes we can, i love film no matter what.

[@BDboystoys1]

One of my absolute favourites, a real classic. the soundtrack alone is so beautiful & haunting

[@fluff975]

truly one of the greatest movies ever made

[@mikefitzgerald6831]

No other filmmaker hit it out of the park like Coppola did between 1972 and 1974. Three all-time masterpieces in a row: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather II. Who else has a record to match that?

[@rocco080401]

Maybe Hitchcock Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho in 3 years

[@SonofSethoitae]

And then the next movie he made was Apocalypse Now. The 70s were a wild time for movies.

[@jespersahnerpedersen]

Sergio Leone: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America

[@Kevon420]

Welles made the three best films of the 1940s with Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Seven, and The Lady From Shanghai.

[@john.morena]

Kubrick: Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Clockwork Orange

[@dynjarren7523]

It’s a Prescient film about surveillance. Today people are recorded and filmed 24/7 in the cities and no one even cares or pays attention. Privacy? what’s privacy? Never heard of it. People have just accepted the spying and recording as the new normal in exchange for safety. The film is a murder mystery with a twist. I won’t ruin it for you but it a well made film.

[@apseudonym]

my favourite film. coppola and hackman are untouchable here

[@garrison6863]

This is Coppola's best film. And Hackman was superb.

[@mikefitzgerald6831]

This is might be the best movie of the 1970s, perhaps of all time. Seriously. A hidden masterpiece.

[@Bradwhitehead415]

"Have a free pen" - William P. Moran

[@maxheadrom3088]

Coppola did "The Godfather" to gather money to do this film. Who created that sound effect we hear in the opening sequence? That sound effect became synonym for surveillance and can be heard on PBS' Frontline "United States Secrets".

[@prathameshbhambure]

Francis Ford Coppola is incredibly extraordinary! Every movie he's ever made tells a saga to its audience in the most uncontaminated form. I revere Coppola so much because he's the reason why I love cinema the way I could never love unless I watched his masterpieces. Needless to say, Gene, Ford, Duvall & Cazale are like blessings to the world of cinema. *15 December 2023*

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

It's frightening how much I relate to the character of Harry Caul. Watching him onscreen is like looking in a mirror.

[@EyeLean5280]

One of the more interesting and less predictable choices on the Criticis' Picks list. Although of course it is in a lot of ways the American version of Blow Up.

[@abrahamgomez7366]

Why American version? Blow Up was made by Depalma an American film director. You mean that Blow Up is more European in terms of lens and camera perspective?

[@Ravi-xf8dw]

@@abrahamgomez7366 he is talking about 1966 blow up. A European film that inspired de palma's film.

[@mrzoperxplex]

What the hell is behind the Times wanting to stretch this video to fit the widescreen format? It distorts everything including the motion picture that conforms to the native aspect ratio to begin with.

[@walshnormandy1605]

just saw at the Film Forum, January, 2022! amazing!!!

[@reubensane5539]

I know Brian Depalma‘s blowout is mostly inspired by the 60s (Michelangelo Antonioni )film blow up but I see a lot of influence from the conversation as well.

[@Greg042869]

I'm not sure the film would have the same emotional impact today. It played off an awareness or sensitivity that no longer exists. There used to be a reflexive reaction to an intrusion into our privacy, but now surveillance is pretty much expected, isn't it? On the highway, at the store, on the phone, online, everything is tracked and recorded. If anonymity is possible, it's simply a result of overwhelming input from other sources, and apathy. Maybe that could be the theme of the sequel. Hackman and Williams star in the new film, Another Conversation. You'll hear the actors deliver such memorable lines as, "Meh, what are you going to do?"

[@deckofcards87]

I agree with all of your points except that this movie still packed an emotional punch when I watched it...and I'm 25. I can understand the paranioa in context. Hackman's performance alone effects me.

[@mirazusta2002]

In my opinion, the point is not the particular time and context when something becomes trending topic, like surveillance in the times of the Watergate scandal, but how a story is told and unveils, whatever the medium used, film or literature, and from that perspective, I think, "The Conversation" delivers good entertainment to this day thanks to the craftsmanship with which the film was made, which makes it possible for it to stand the test of time despite how irrelevant the plot could seem to be now. The same happens to me with many of the films by Alfred Hitchcock.

[@dustywaxhead]

I think you're underestimating most audiences. Just look at 1984, kids still read that in high school and see it for what it represents

[@Flosseveryday]

I guarantee this story would work if it was set in the current era. You’re missing the point completely. There were just as many dull meaningless conversations at that time as there are now. This wasn’t a movie about spying on society it was about a husband spying on his wife and a private detective with blood on his hands from a previous job and a heavy conscience telling him it could happen again and as his character says “I don’t fear death, but murder” There’s much more going on in the movie and you are selling the story short or confusing it for a different story altogether. Did you even watch the movie?

[@Greg042869]

@@Flosseveryday There's a movie?

[@rerite2]

Great film, and fun to see San Francisco when it didn't cost an arm and a leg to get an apartment.

[@lens2optic]

masterpiece of cinema

[@drlee2]

Hottest take ever: The Conversation should actually have won Best Picture over The Godfather Part 2.

[@tbewin1z143]

lolololol

[@benanderson3791]

Great film but come on! 😅

[@Flosseveryday]

This movie is a masterpiece. No doubt.

[@pm_-wm1wq]

Harrison Ford’s voice at 02:42

[@thrillofbattle3801]

Nice catch :)

[@Sdfghjk442]

What a movie

[@andrewhillis2269]

VERY INTERESTING & FASCINATING THE LINKS BETWEEN THIS FILM & ENEMY OF THE STATE ! ! ! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@DogAmongMen]

That was a pretty good movie.

[@n.webber157]

This and Network are the most prescient films of the 20th century, bar none

[@sasdrusbaslisto9538]

This is amazing. The film is a great classic. But the critic is clean, simple and effective. I miss that. I enjoy complex and creative reviews, but sometimes it just saturates me as an audience member and makes me appreciate less pretentious styles of cinema ibterpretation

[@konami1979]

One of the great San Francisco movies.

[@Vlad65WFPReviews]

I adore this movie but am bothered how it "cheats" by abruptly altering the emphasis of a key piece of the taped "Conversation" after it had been played earlier - I wish this twist were somehow done differently - a great film nonetheless.

[@oaktowndaddyg]

Probably, Gene Hackman’s best performance and he’s had a lot of great roles in his long career.

[@jackdonohue7893]

I’m 13 and really liked this movie when I saw it a few months ago, but my grandpa hated it!

[@georgeguja6155]

Good movie choices

[@zinebelhoummany2835]

You probably have a way much movies taste than your grandpa

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

I question your grandpa's taste in movies.

[@aks99-4]

Your grandpa has a functioning brain then. Awful awful movie

[@jackdonohue7893]

John Fitzpatrick I think he has a good taste, but he was expecting much more from the movie. I don’t blame him, as I was also expecting more.

[@scottscoville1118]

regRding the trailer - Excellent! Very Good! Good job!

[@rachel7946]

I loved John Cazelle

[@paulsolon6229]

But you misspell his name

[@uphillwalrus5164]

Your iphone is wiretapped at all times