Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is hired by a mysterious client’s brusque aide (Harrison Ford) to tail a young couple, Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams). Tracking the pair through San Francisco’s Union Square, Caul and his associate Stan (John Cazale) manage to record a cryptic conversation between them. Tormented by memories of a previous case that ended badly, Caul becomes obsessed with the resulting tape, trying to determine if the couple are in danger.
The Conversation presents Francis Ford Coppola at his finest — and makes some remarkably advanced arguments about technology’s role in society that still resonate today. For a deep dive on the thriller, check out Mubi’s article on the film, watch New York Times critic A.O. Scott explain why it’s a Critics’ Pick, and read our very own Jesse Pasternack’s piece “How Dementia 13 (1963) Anticipated The Conversation (1974),” which looks at Francis Ford Coppola’s journey as a filmmaker between his first film and one of his first masterpieces. You can see The Conversation at IU Cinema this coming Tuesday, January 23!
“As a thriller alone, The Conversation would be worth our attention. But as a thriller which also expresses our actual and collective nightmares, it absolutely demands it.” — Joy Gould Boyum, Wall Street Journal
The Conversation will be screened at IU Cinema on January 23 as part of the series I Like to Watch: Voyeurism in Cinema.