The Conversation

Not only had I never seen The Conversation before, but I'd never heard of it before last week. I was surprised that it is a Francis Ford Coppola film, that it is so unknown, and that it is so good.

I've been learning about sound design and sound editing, and so I paid particular attention to those aspects of the film as I was watching. I think even if I hadn't paid particular attention, the sound editing of the film would have gotten my attention. The mixing of the voices of the young couple being spied on was suspenseful.  As you heard the tape over and over, different things were amplified and clarified. When things were unclear or the voices were inaudible, they were often fixed in a later scene and more of the conversation was understood. This was a great way to build up suspense through the film using dialogue and sound.

Another interesting part of the sound was the use of music. Harry Caul, the main character, was an introverted and solitary man. This was expressed in many ways, but the music was one of the most compelling. Whenever it seemed that Harry had a lot to think about, the sounds of the world around would diminish and the music would increase in volume. It was an interesting tool to get the audience to think about what's in Harry's head.

One of the conversation pieces that was repeated many times was the young woman talking about the man sleeping on the park bench. 

Ann: I always think that he was once somebody's baby boy. Really, I do. I think he was once somebody's baby boy, and he had a mother and a father who loved him, and now there he is, half dead on a park bench, and where are his mother or his father, all his uncles now?

This part of the conversation seemed to compel Henry to think of the young couple, and want to protect the woman. That ended up to be irony in the end.

There was one particular line of the man to the woman that was harder for Henry to bring out, and ended up being, "He'd kill us if he got the chance." The first time you hear that line, you are worried for the couple and it increases empathy and suspense. It's not until after the couple was found out to be the murderers that you understand the subtle emphasis of "he'd kill us if he got the chance," which changes the entire meaning of the sentence.

The character of Henry Caul was complex, and the effects of his demons were obvious, even before we understood what they were. One of his most telling lines was "I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder." This fear compels many aspects of his solitary and complicated life.

The story line was interesting and the ending a complete surprise. The pace was slower than current movies, but if you are willing to sit through the ending is worth the wait.