The 1974 film The Conversation directed by Francis Ford Coppola fits in with the Hollywood’s era of the cinema of paranoia. During the seventies, things in the U.S. were very difficult with the Kennedy brothers and Watergate. Films during that time depicted how people and the country were dealing with and felling about everything. According to Philip Kemp, this film turned out to be a film about responsibility.
In the opening shot, it makes the viewer feel like they themselves are a hit man and they are stalking someone. The very next scene the audience sees the sniper. The first couple of scenes give the audience the perspective of the sniper and that they are stalking someone. Through out the film, Harry Caul changes from the stalker to being stalked. This occurs not only with Harry but with the audience as well. Harry’s character is one who obsesses over his privacy but yet invades other. He makes no emotional connection with people and tries not to get involved but that soon changes he develops a sense of responsibility. In the end the machine devours its own: the bugger, punished for a momentary deviation into human feeling, becomes the bugged i.e. Harry.
The best element of this film is its audio. The audio is endlessly played and replayed throughout the film, in full or in brief snatches, sometimes with pictures, sometimes just on tape or re-echoing in Harry's mind, as its various levels of meaning are gradually teased out (Kemp, Philip). There are different audio levels throughout and the soundtrack to the film that is very enjoyable. The best is when Harry is playing the trumpet and the record is playing. In this scene, there is a close up of Harry’s hand working the three tape players and then the film goes back to the establishing shot. The audio controls the shots of the camera. It leads to a flashback from what we have already seen but through the eyes of the audio. In the end, the audio is what makes him go crazy. According to Brenda Austin-Smith , it is a madness brought on by extreme self-consciousness, with not even his faith to sustain him (he smashes the statue of the Virgin, as if it were Ann, while searching for the bug).
The film is quite slow in some parts. The film makes the audience focus on one thing and that is the audio. Even the visuals in the film point how important the audio is for the film. This film is one that people need to watch multiple times to get the different points and supporting elements. For one reason, the point of view of the film being audio is one that people are not use to even in the twenty-first century. With the U.S. at war right now, this film can appeal to audiences today. This film is timeless one that can always be interpreted and relatable to any audience anywhere.
In the opening shot, it makes the viewer feel like they themselves are a hit man and they are stalking someone. The very next scene the audience sees the sniper. The first couple of scenes give the audience the perspective of the sniper and that they are stalking someone. Through out the film, Harry Caul changes from the stalker to being stalked. This occurs not only with Harry but with the audience as well. Harry’s character is one who obsesses over his privacy but yet invades other. He makes no emotional connection with people and tries not to get involved but that soon changes he develops a sense of responsibility. In the end the machine devours its own: the bugger, punished for a momentary deviation into human feeling, becomes the bugged i.e. Harry.
The best element of this film is its audio. The audio is endlessly played and replayed throughout the film, in full or in brief snatches, sometimes with pictures, sometimes just on tape or re-echoing in Harry's mind, as its various levels of meaning are gradually teased out (Kemp, Philip). There are different audio levels throughout and the soundtrack to the film that is very enjoyable. The best is when Harry is playing the trumpet and the record is playing. In this scene, there is a close up of Harry’s hand working the three tape players and then the film goes back to the establishing shot. The audio controls the shots of the camera. It leads to a flashback from what we have already seen but through the eyes of the audio. In the end, the audio is what makes him go crazy. According to Brenda Austin-Smith , it is a madness brought on by extreme self-consciousness, with not even his faith to sustain him (he smashes the statue of the Virgin, as if it were Ann, while searching for the bug).
The film is quite slow in some parts. The film makes the audience focus on one thing and that is the audio. Even the visuals in the film point how important the audio is for the film. This film is one that people need to watch multiple times to get the different points and supporting elements. For one reason, the point of view of the film being audio is one that people are not use to even in the twenty-first century. With the U.S. at war right now, this film can appeal to audiences today. This film is timeless one that can always be interpreted and relatable to any audience anywhere.
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