film

Fifty years on from its release, this neo-noir from Francis Ford Coppola stands as a smart and deeply prophetic piece on the effects of technology on personal privacy. Gene Hackman puts in an extraordinarily affecting and tragic performance as Harry Caul, a talented but troubled private surveillance expert who is hired to wiretap a young couple and becomes obsessed with their conversation, suspecting that it might lead to murder. 

Caul's paranoia intensifies as he delves deeper and deeper into the tapes, leading him to question the ethics of his work and ultimately to destroy almost everything in his life. The Conversation is Coppola at his best, with a standout performance from a great actor at the peak of his powers and a sophisticated point of view with regard to surveillance that is still relevant today.