The psychological detective "Conversation" was shot in 1974 by the flagship of New Hollywood, Francis Ford Coppola. The relevance of the film in those years is obvious: the height of the "cold war" with the "witch hunt" gaining momentum, the Watergate scandal. And in general - the "turn" of the Americans on the inviolability of private property and personal life.
And what are the problems of the protagonist of "Conversation", who was covered with paranoia due to the fact that he became the object of wiretapping and surveillance, for us today? The all-seeing eye of the Internet, the dominance of voice recorders and smartphones, a bunch of hackers and lead miners have long adapted people to the fact that their personal data and privacy can become the property of many. But the meaning of the film for the modern viewer is that after watching the faint-hearted will run to glue up the cameras of their laptops, examine their phones, and delete provocative posts from social networks. And people will think harder: you cannot assess the true scale and psychological consequences of a problem until it touches you personally.
The main character of the film is a resident of San Francisco Harry Cole - a middle-aged man with sparse graying hair, in massive glasses. He is single, leads a secluded life. Likes to have a drink and play the saxophone. Distrust of everyone (neighbors, mistresses, colleagues), secrecy and suspiciousness are in his blood. A sort of Chekhovian "man in a case."
The business that Cole has been doing for many years is fulfilling orders of interested parties for listening to other people's private conversations and selling tapes with a recording. Showing resourcefulness, ingenuity and scrupulousness, Harry makes good money. At the same time, two rules should be followed: do not delve into the content of what you have heard and do not "drive" about the moral aspect of your actions. To maintain peace of mind, he sometimes goes to confession, and completely assigns responsibility for the consequences to the clients.
Violation of the regulations becomes the reason that one day Cole turns from an expert on wiretapping into an object of surveillance. The spring that triggered the mechanism for the development of his phobia and paranoid fear of "wiretapping" was a difficult task. It was required to record the conversation of the couple during their meeting in a crowded place. In the bustling Union Square, Ann and Mark's speech was drowned out by the sounds of street musicians. Harry got on his ears with the words “he would have killed us if he could”. But the "listener" did not attach any importance to them, evaluating the phrase as a simple speech turn.
When Cole brings the finished phonogram to the customer, he is met by the company's deputy director. Mr. Stett promises to hand over everything to the boss. The expert prefers to hand over the order in person when he is at the office. On leaving the building, he meets Ann and Mark. A phrase from the conversation of lovers pops up in my head. What will happen when they are revealed?
It would seem that a cynical pro cannot be taken for a living. He is only interested in the overheard conversations in terms of sound quality. But the woman, who was originally only a faceless voice on the tape, becomes alive, and therefore worthy of sympathy. And I also remembered a case when the information he collected led to a triple murder. The nerves of the "best specialist on the West Coast" have passed and the rule of "not meddling in your own business" has been broken.
The next day brings a lot of anxiety to the unflappable Harry. While attending an exhibition of new tracking technologies, he quarrels with a competitor. After a party in the office, he discovers that the working phonograms of the last order have disappeared along with the prostitute. The next morning a phone call rings in his apartment. The voice on the other end of the line says that to ensure the safety of the recording, he is being “looked after” until he comes for the money.
For the first time, the detective is concerned about the fate of the object of surveillance, because the day before he saw in a dream that Anne had been killed. Cole manages to find out about the place of the next meeting of the couple. He checks in to the next hotel room, installing a microphone behind the wall. In the skirmish, the voices of the girl and the businessman are clearly heard, to whom he handed over the tape with the conversation the day before. The screams and noise on the balcony are indicative of murder. He bursts into the scene of the crime, but does not find the body of the victim.
Shocked that he was unable to prevent the tragedy, Cole returns home. Suddenly, on the street, he sees Anne safe and sound. And the newspapers published a note about the death of the director of a large corporation in an accident. Harry almost unconscious reaches the apartment. The phone rings: Martin Stett warns the private investigator to forget about everything he saw. And reminds of the established surveillance over him.
The film ends with metaphorical shots: in search of hidden microphones, a specialist in these very "bugs" with the help of a jackhammer smashes his apartment to pieces. Finding nothing, the exhausted and devastated "best wiretap expert on the West Coast" sits down on a chair in the middle of the room, picking up his favorite saxophone.
The film "Conversation" is based on the theme of enslavement of a person in the shell of his own fears, his hostile attitude to reality and alienation from society. The director named Antonioni's thriller "Magnification" as a source of inspiration.
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