The Conversation is a film of fine, fine details. Gene Hackman plays a loner involved in the surveillance business, planning elaborate schemes to capture vital information from his targets to pass onto clients. His associates range from enigmatic middlemen to hapless assistants, and it's clear he's just as much in the dark as the targets he records. The real genius of this film is in how it makes the audience go back over the same details with a fine toothcomb, over and over again, just as the protagonist analyses each phrase on his tape recorder. Although it may sound tedious on paper, each revelation increases the stakes of the investigation and we realise just how much danger everyone is in. The protagonist, forced to abandon his detachment, finds no choice but to intervene in the couple and his client. With constant trepidation and uncertainty, he finds that nothing is as it seems and he is just as much a target. A truly chilling story given great power by the tiny details and inflections of the performances, hinting a lot but betraying very little.
Review of The Conversation
