The Conversation

Featuring an exclusive pre-filmed intro by director Frances Ford Coppola!

Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece of sustained suspense and paranoia showcases what may be Gene Hackman’s greatest performance. Lonely surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) is hired to record a seemingly innocuous conversation between two young lovers in San Francisco’s Union Square. But why? As the reclusive Harry plays saxophone jazz in his empty apartment and obsessively listens to the recordings, he begins to believe he may be putting the couple in danger if he turns the material over to his client (Robert Duvall). As he keeps tinkering with the recordings, he gets bugged himself, his tapes are stolen, his landlord effortlessly penetrates his security to leave a note — and then, to his horror, he figures it all out. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Coppola’s follow-up to The Godfather is a brilliant thriller of urban alienation co-starring John Cazale as Harry’s oddball assistant, and a stellar supporting cast of soon-to-be-stars, including Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Teri Garr and a young Harrison Ford (three years before Star Wars). (Dir.by Frances Ford Coppola, 1974, USA, 113 mins., Rated PG)