It was during an after screening Q&A for Tetro (the opening film for Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section) that I learned that in a career that has spanned over four decades, Francis Ford Coppola has rarely worked from his own, original screenplay. With Tetro opening last week, I thought it might be fun to consider his Palme d’or winning The Conversation as a possible “weekend rental”.
Circa 1974, the film might feel technologically dated, but wire-tapping, eyes-dropping and the misinterpretation of the facts are just as prevalent today as they were back then. I love Gene Hackman‘s perf as an isolated loner character who gets way too caught up in his work. Something to keep in mind when watching, when the film was released in theaters it was coincidentally after Watergate broke – sort of like when Wag the Dog was released moments before the whole Clinton/Monica scandal. Worth watching beforehand, are films that have an obvious lineage. Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and Antonioni’s Blow-Up.
