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Information
- Year
- 1974
- Runtime
- 113 min.
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller, Mystery
- Rating *
- 7.8
- Votes *
- 68,866
- Checks
- 15,210
- Favs
- 1,645
- Dislikes
- 81
- Favs/checks
- 10.8% (1:9)
- Favs/dislikes
- 20:1
Top comments
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Foxinsand
Shades of both Hitchcock and Antonioni, and one of the best film scores I've heard, a brilliantly subdued thriller. 14 years 5 months ago -
BigAwesomeBLT
I'm glad I went into this with no knowledge of the plot or the actors involved. Great to see Harrison Ford pop up! I loved all the twists and turns. My only major thought throughout was that a few scenes could have been cut down. A faster pace may have better suited the narrative. 8 years 11 months ago -
Siskoid
Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation owes a huge (but acknowledged - it even starts with a mime) debt to Antonioni's Blow-Up, which I reviewed recently. Like Blow-Up, it's about context and perception, but instead of exploring it through a photographer and a mysterious sequence of pictures, he does so with a professional wiretapper, and an innocuous conversation. The conversation repeats throughout the film, revealing itself or its meaning a little more each time, but also taking on new meaning based on context. Gene Hackman gives an excellent and understated performance as the obsessively private protagonist, and Coppola doesn't go Blow-Up's philosophical route, steering the film towards the thriller genre, albeit a quiet kind of thriller. He certainly shows us a lot of the nitty-gritty of the surveillance business circa 1974, but a remake wouldn't feel incredibly different (though perhaps the character of Harry Caul would have even more anxiety regarding hypersurveillance). And there's a poetry to the images here that I really enjoy, Coppola importing the idea of things hidden and revealed into the cinematography and script elements. 8 years 9 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 23 official lists
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This movie ranks #21 in Time Out’s The 100 Best Thrillers
Time Out’s The 100 Best …
21 -
This movie ranks #42 in Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'Or
Cannes Film Festival - P…
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This movie ranks #43 in National Board of Review Award - Best Film
National Board of Review…
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This movie ranks #43 in iCheckMovies's 1970s Top 100
iCheckMovies's 1970s Top…
43 -
This movie ranks #87 in Leonard Maltin's 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century
Leonard Maltin's 100 Mus…
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This movie ranks #105 in Jennifer Eiss's 500 Essential Cult Movies
Jennifer Eiss's 500 Esse…
105 -
This movie ranks #114 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
Empire's The 500 Greates…
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This movie ranks #124 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
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This movie ranks #150 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
150 -
This movie ranks #169 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
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This movie ranks #179 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
Library of Congress's Na…
179 -
This movie ranks #180 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
Sight & Sound's The Grea…
180 -
This movie ranks #194 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
Time Out's 1000 Films to…
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This movie ranks #195 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
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This movie ranks #246 in Reddit Top 250
Reddit Top 250
246 -
This movie ranks #295 in Academy Award - Best Picture Nominees
Academy Award - Best Pic…
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This movie ranks #342 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Mark Cousins's The Story…
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This movie ranks #353 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
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This movie ranks #366 in TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films
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This movie ranks #379 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
Emma Beare's 501 Must-Se…
379 -
This movie ranks #582 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
582 -
This movie ranks #655 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
655 -
This movie ranks #774 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
774