Curiosity killed the cat is a pronoun used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. This is perfect plot summary of the film, The Conversation. Gene Hackman plays a reclusive solitary man named Harry Caul, who is meticulous in protecting his own privacy. Ironically, his work is to invade the privacy of others by bugging them and recording their conversations. The best at what he does, Harry can bug anyone, any where, at any time.

The film focuses on Harry’s latest assignment, to record the conversation between a couple who are walking through a crowded park in San Francisco. A combination of deception and hidden recording devices, Harry is hard at work deciphering and recording the conversation of the target couple. He becomes annoyed at his colleague, Stanley, who wishes, just for once, that the conversation is more than the mundane things this couple are discussing. Harry painstaking pieces together the multiple recordings and builds a snapshot of the couple in the park. It appears the couple are in a relationship and are being harassed by another individual whom they plan to meet on Sunday. As the movie progresses, things take a sinister turn and all is not as it seems. Harry’s recording is pursued by an overzealous assistant to the director (Harrison Ford) yet Harry is reluctant to give the tapes to anyone but the director himself. Harry learns his recordings were of a murder plot rather than a seemingly innocent conversation and the final scenes end with a phone call to Harry’s personal residence. The caller says “We know you know Mr.Caul. For your own sake, don’t get involved any further. We will be listening to you”. As confirmation, the caller plays back a recording of Harry playing the saxophone alone in his apartment. This sends Harry to the edge of insanity as he tears up his own apartment, searching for the bug planted by the mystery caller. He does not find the bug and the audience is left with images from a secret camera of Harry continuing to play the saxophone alone in his dismantled apartment.

Released 1974, The Conversation was thought to be based upon the events of the Watergate break-in in 1972. In an interview with director Francis Ford Coppolla, this appears to be an assumption rather than fact as production was wrapped up months before Watergate happened. Coppola was inspired to make the movie after admiring the success of Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film, Blow Up and his current reading was a Stephen Wolff novel. Coppola’s notion of espionage and how electronic surveillance was becoming more like a business propelled him to create this film. Initially it appears the film takes on the genre of Big Brother cinema where all surveillance is bad. However, as the plot develops, the focus is more on the conscience of Caul and how he begins to realize his bugging and surveillance can have consequences, some of which are dire. He is shown at confession where he reveals his tapes have been used for blackmail in the past and three people were murdered as a result. This is the first time we see any real emotion or conscience from Caul in the film. When Hackman was made into Harry Caul; instructions were to make him unattractive, reclusive and to exhibit signs of paranoia. Unintentionally, he resembled one of the men indicted as part of the Watergate break-in.

A conventional film with some big names such as Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford, The Conversation also tackles the unconventional and politically challenging plot of invasion of privacy. It brings to light how someone can and probably is, always watching and listening. Privacy is destroyed in this world and you are not alone.  Acclaimed director, Francis Ford Coppola used his budget of $1.6 million to create a film that exposes the world of bugging, tracking and recording of the public and the violation of privacy. However, he led the plot to focus more on the person or people who are committing the act of violation and how they handle their emotions as the consequences of their actions unfold. This was a bold move by Coppola, he did not alienate his audience as he introduced a sensitive topic, especially at the height of the Watergate scandal. Audiences were responsive and enjoyed the film, spending $4.2 million at the box office domestically.

The Conversation was critically acclaimed earning a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is also the recipient of the Cannes Film Festival’s highest award, The Grand Prix Du Festival International (now known as the Golden Palm Award). Nominated for several other Academy Awards and Golden Globes, The Conversation won a lot of acclaim for its soundtrack, editing and screenplay. Coppola’s fresh idea examining electronic surveillance and technology’s role in society opened a whole new world in the thriller genre of New Hollywood cinema. Films such as Snowden and CitizenFour have followed suit and uncovered the world of surveillance and the whistleblowers who expose the cover-ups, deceit and violation of privacy have been hugely successful.