Editing The Conversation

{{Short description|1974 film by Francis Ford Coppola}}
{{About|the 1974 film|other uses|Conversation (disambiguation)}}
{{For|the media outlet|The Conversation (website)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Conversation
| image          = Theconversation.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| producer       = Francis Ford Coppola
| writer         = Francis Ford Coppola
| starring       = {{Plain list|
* [[Gene Hackman]]
* [[John Cazale]]
* [[Allen Garfield]]
* [[Cindy Williams]]
* [[Frederic Forrest]]
}}
| music          = [[David Shire]]
| cinematography = {{Plain list|
* [[Bill Butler (cinematographer)|Bill Butler]]
* [[Haskell Wexler]] (uncredited)
}}
| editing        = {{Plain list|
* [[Walter Murch]]
* [[Richard Chew]]
}}
| studio         = [[The Directors Company]]
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1974|04|07}}
| runtime        = 113 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1.6 million
| gross          = $4.9 million<ref name="BOM">{{Cite web |title=The Conversation (1974) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0071360/ |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=September 30, 2024}}</ref>
}}

'''''The Conversation''''' is a 1974 American [[neo-noir]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-02 |title='The Conversation': Francis Ford Coppola's Paranoia-Ridden Tale of Surveillance, Guilt and Isolation  |url=https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-conversation/ |publisher=Cinephilia & Beyond |access-date=2024-03-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[mystery film|mystery]] [[Thriller film|thriller]] film written, produced, and directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]]. It stars [[Gene Hackman]] as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder. Supporting cast members include [[John Cazale]], [[Allen Garfield]], [[Cindy Williams]], and [[Frederic Forrest]]. [[Harrison Ford]] and [[Teri Garr]] appear in credited roles, with [[Robert Duvall]] in an uncredited role.

''The Conversation'' premiered at the [[1974 Cannes Film Festival]], where it won the [[Palme d'Or|Grand Prix du Festival International du Film]], the festival's highest prize, and was released theatrically on April 7, 1974, by [[Paramount Pictures]] to critical acclaim. It made $4.4 million during its original release, and after several re-releases, its total rose to $4.8 million on a $1.6 million budget. The film received three nominations at the [[47th Academy Awards]]: [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]], and [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]].

Since its release, it has been regarded as one of the [[best films|greatest and most influential films ever made]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240408-the-conversation-at-50-why-the-paranoid-thriller-is-more-relevant-than-ever | title=The Conversation at 50: Why the paranoid thriller is more relevant than ever | date=April 9, 2024 }}</ref> In 1995, it was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=June 6, 2020}}</ref>

==Plot==
Harry Caul, a surveillance expert in [[San Francisco]], specializes in [[surveillance|audio recordings]]. He and his team are hired by a client known as "the Director" to eavesdrop on a couple, whom they record walking in circles in [[Union Square, San Francisco|Union Square]]. Despite the background noise, Caul filters and merges the tapes to create a clear recording with ambiguous meaning. Caul is intensely private, obsessively guarding his personal life; though he insists that he is not responsible for how his clients use the surveillance he creates, he is haunted by guilt from a past job that resulted in three deaths.

When he discovers a potentially dangerous phrase in the recording, "He'd kill us if he got the chance," Caul becomes increasingly anxious. His attempt to deliver the recording is thwarted, and he is both followed and threatened.

After a party at his workshop, Caul spends the night with a woman he has just met and the tapes are stolen. He receives a call from Martin Stett, the Director's assistant, informing him that the Director could not wait any longer and they have the tapes.  Caul is to deliver the pictures taken and collect his money in a meeting with the Director that afternoon. There he learns that the woman in the recording is the Director's wife, involved in an affair. Caul, suspecting murder, books a hotel room next to the one the couple had mentioned for a planned rendezvous in the recording, and overhears a heated argument. Convinced there was a murder, Caul breaks into the room; he initially finds no evidence, until he flushes the toilet and finds it clogged and overflowing with blood.

Attempting to confront the Director, Caul discovers the wife is alive and unharmed, as is her lover. A newspaper headline reports that an executive has supposedly died in a car accident.  This leads Caul to realize that the couple actually murdered the Director. He missed the emphasis on the word "us" in the recording, which not only expressed the couple's fear of being killed by the Director if he discovered the affair, but was also an attempt to justify [[The best defense is a good offense|killing him first as a defensive move]].

Stett calls Caul at his apartment, and warns him not to investigate.  He plays a freshly-made recording of Caul playing his saxophone to prove they are listening. Caul frantically searches for bugs in his apartment, destroying nearly everything in it. Having failed to locate the bug, Caul sits alone amid the wreckage, playing his saxophone.

==Cast==
{{castlist|
*[[Gene Hackman]] as Harry R. Caul
*[[John Cazale]] as Stanley "Stan" Ross
*[[Allen Garfield]] as William P. "Bernie" Moran
*[[Cindy Williams]] as Ann
*[[Frederic Forrest]] as Mark
*[[Harrison Ford]] as Martin Stett
*[[Michael Higgins (actor)|Michael Higgins]] as Paul
*[[Elizabeth MacRae]] as Meredith
*[[Teri Garr]] as Amy Fredericks
*Phoebe Alexander as Lurleen
*Mark Wheeler as Receptionist 
*[[Shields and Yarnell|Robert Shields]] as The Mime
*[[Robert Duvall]] as The Director<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/02/26/the_conversation_1974_review.shtml |title=The Conversation (1974) |last=Hilditch |first=Nick |date=February 27, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2017 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref>
}}

==Production==
Principal photography began November 27, 1972, and finished in late February 1973. The original cinematographer of ''The Conversation'' was [[Haskell Wexler]]. Severe creative and personal differences with Coppola led to Wexler's firing shortly after production began, and Coppola replaced him with [[Bill Butler (cinematographer)|Bill Butler]], whom he'd previously worked with on ''[[The Rain People]]'' and ''[[The Godfather]]''. Wexler's footage on ''The Conversation'' was completely reshot except for the technically complex surveillance scene in Union Square.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71469/the-conversation#articles-reviews |title=The Conversation (1974) |last=Stafford |first=Jeff |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref> This movie was the first of two Oscar-nominated films where Wexler would be fired and replaced by Butler, the second being ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'' (1975), where Wexler had similar problems with [[Miloš Forman]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Townsend |first=Sylvia |title=Haskell Wexler and the Making of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' |date=December 19, 2014 |url=http://worldcinemaparadise.com/2014/12/19/haskell-wexler-and-the-making-of-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest/ |access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref>

[[Walter Murch]] served as the supervising editor and sound designer. Murch had more or less a free hand during the editing process because Coppola was working on ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' at the time.{{sfn|Ondaatje|2002|p=157}} Coppola noted in the DVD commentary that Hackman had a very difficult time adapting to the Harry Caul character because he was so much unlike himself. Coppola says that Hackman was at the time an outgoing and approachable person who preferred casual clothes, whereas Caul was meant to be a socially awkward loner who wore a rain coat and out-of-style glasses. Coppola said that Hackman's efforts to tap into the character made the actor moody and irritable on set, but otherwise Coppola got along well with his leading man. Coppola also notes on the commentary that Hackman considers this one of his favorite performances.{{fact|date=May 2024}}

Coppola has cited [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966) as a key influence on his conceptualization of the film's themes, such as surveillance versus participation, and perception versus reality. "Francis had seen [it] a year or two before, and had the idea to fuse the concept of ''Blowup'' with the world of audio surveillance."{{sfn|Ondaatje|2002|p=152}}

Private investigator [[Hal Lipset]] is credited as a technical advisor on the film.<ref name="The Conversation">{{cite AV media | people=Coppola, Francis Ford (director) | date=1974 | title=The Conversation | type=motion picture | location=San Francisco, California}}</ref> He chose state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, and had Caul's surveillance follow methods which were mostly realistic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holt |first1=Patricia |title=The bug in the martini olive : and other true cases from the files of Hal Lipset, private eye |date=1991 |publisher=Little, Brown, and Co. |location=Boston |edition=1st|pages=48–51 |isbn=978-0-316-37161-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/buginmartinioliv00holt/ |access-date=29 March 2025 |quote=I told Francis I'd oversee the technical aspects as long as we used state-of-the-art equipment — no James Bond stuff — and tried to show how a real surveillance might work. What you see in that movie is the best of the field at the time with only one fib — the pocket tape recorder does not have a playback function — and one exaggeration: the parabolic mike is too large to use secretly. I tried it once, looked through a telephoto lens, and saw my subject thumbing his nose at me.}}</ref> In the film, Lipset and Caul are mentioned as two of the pre-eminent surveillance experts who will be attending a convention.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coppola |first1=Francis Ford |title=The Conversation - Script |url=https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/the-conversation-1974.pdf |website=Scriptslug |access-date=4 April 2025 |quote=among those pre-eminent in the field expected are Hal Lipsett, and Harry Caul from San Francisco}}</ref>

On the DVD commentary, Coppola says he was shocked to learn that the film used the same surveillance and wire-tapping equipment that members of the [[Nixon Administration]] used to spy on political opponents prior to the [[Watergate scandal]]. Coppola has said this reason is partially why the film gained the recognition it has received, but it was entirely coincidental. Not only was the script for ''The Conversation'' completed in the mid-1960s, before Nixon became president, but the spying equipment used in the film was discovered through research and the use of technical advisers, and not, as many believed, by revelatory newspaper stories about the Watergate break-in. Coppola also noted that filming of ''The Conversation'' had been completed several months before the most revelatory Watergate stories broke in the press. Because the film was released to theaters just a few months before Richard Nixon resigned as president, Coppola felt that audiences interpreted the film to be a reaction to both the Watergate scandal and its fall-out.

===Score===
''The Conversation'' features a piano score composed and performed by [[David Shire]].<ref name="mubi.com">{{Cite web|url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/notebook-soundtrack-mix-6-the-new-hollywood-mixtape|title=Notebook Soundtrack Mix #6: The New Hollywood Mixtape|website=MUBI|date=14 October 2019 }}</ref> The score was created before the film was shot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soundtrack.net/soundtracks/database/?id=2939 |title=discussion of soundtrack |access-date=May 22, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020115151208/http://www.soundtrack.net/soundtracks/database/?id=2939 |archive-date=January 15, 2002}}</ref> On some cues, Shire used ''[[musique concrète]]'' techniques, taking the taped sounds of the piano and distorting them in different ways to create alternative tonalities to round out the score. The score was released on CD by [[Intrada Records]] in 2001.<ref>Intrada Special Collection Volume 2</ref>

===Inspiration===
According to surveillance technology expert Martin Kaiser, his colleagues consider him to the inspiration for the character of Harry Caul. Kaiser also says that he served as a technical consultant on the film, though he was not listed in the credits.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaiser |first1=Martin L. |last2=Stokes |first2=Robert S. |title=Odyssey of an eavesdropper: my life in electronic countermeasures and my battle against the FBI |date=2005 |publisher=Carroll & Graf ; Distributed by Publishers Group West |location=New York : [Berkeley, Calif] |isbn=9780786715466 |pages=x |edition=1st Carroll & Graf |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786715466/ |access-date=7 April 2025 |quote=I was considered by my colleagues to be the inspiration for Harry Caul, the paranoid eavesdropping expert played by Gene Hackman in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 post-Watergate drama, The Conversation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.martykaiser.com/odyssey2.htm |title=Odyssey of an Eavesdropper |first1=Martin |last1=Kaiser |first2=Bob |last2=Stokes |website=Martykaiser.com |access-date=September 2, 2017}}</ref> According to Kaiser, the final scene of the film—in which Caul is convinced he is being eavesdropped in his apartment, cannot find the listening device, and consoles himself by playing his saxophone—was inspired by the passive [[covert listening device]]s created by [[Léon Theremin]], such as [[The Thing (listening device)|the Great Seal bug]]. "He couldn't find out where [the bug] was because it was the instrument itself."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-bdHGBcUY#t=45m00s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/bb-bdHGBcUY| archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live|title=The Last HOPE: TSCM – A Brief Primer on Electronic Surveillance and 'Bug' Detection (Complete) |publisher=GBPPR2 |date=September 22, 2011 |access-date=May 22, 2017 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Coppola also based Caul on the protagonist of [[Hermann Hesse|Herman Hesse]]'s 1927 novel ''[[Steppenwolf (novel)|Steppenwolf]]'', Harry Haller, a "total cipher" who lives alone in a boarding house. Coppola also made Caul religious, including a [[Confession (religion)|confession]] scene; Coppola has said that the practice of confession is "one of the earliest forms of the invasion of privacy—earliest forms of surveillance."<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 2, 2019|last = Suton |first = Koraljka |title='The Conversation': Francis Ford Coppola's Paranoia-Ridden Tale of Surveillance, Guilt and Isolation|url=https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-conversation/|access-date=June 11, 2022 |website=Cinephilia & Beyond | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191230123341/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-conversation/| archive-date = December 30, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Caul was also inspired by Karl Schnazer; a private investigator and occasional actor who appeared in Coppola's early films ''[[Tonight for Sure]]'' and ''[[Dementia 13]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |date=2014-06-03 |title=Karl Schanzer, Who Inspired Coppola's 'The Conversation,' Dies at 81 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/karl-schanzer-who-inspired-coppola-708829/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> Schnazer recounted to Coppola an incident where a man he had tailed for months failed to recognize him at a party, which later inspired a sequence in the film.<ref name=":0" />

==Reception==
===Box office===
The film had a $1,600,000 budget and grossed $4,420,000 in the U.S. Various rereleases over the years have brought the film's gross to $4.8 million.<ref name="BOM"/>

===Critical response===
The film has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "This tense, paranoid thriller presents Francis Ford Coppola at his finest—and makes some remarkably advanced arguments about technology's role in society that still resonate today."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/conversation |title=The Conversation (1974) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]] |access-date= May 6, 2025}}</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-conversation |title=The Conversation Reviews |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |access-date=December 8, 2022}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert|Roger Ebert's]] contemporary review gave ''The Conversation'' four out of four stars and described Hackman's portrayal of Caul as "one of the most affecting and tragic characters in the movies".<ref>[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]] (1974). "[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-conversation-1974 The Conversation]". January 1, 1974. Retrieved June 2, 2023.</ref> In 2001, Ebert added ''The Conversation'' to his "Great Movies" list, describing Hackman's performance as a "career peak" and writing that the film "comes from another time and place than today's thrillers, which are so often simple-minded".<ref>[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]] (2001). "[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-conversation-1974 The Conversation]". February 4, 2001. Retrieved June 2, 2023.</ref>

In 1995, ''The Conversation'' was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-01-04-9601040275-story.html|title=Cinematic Legends Take Their Place in National Film Registry|first=Donald |last=Liebenson|website=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=January 4, 1996 |language=en-US|access-date=April 24, 2020}}</ref> Gene Hackman has named the film his favorite of all those he has made. His performance in the lead role was listed as the 37th greatest in history by ''Premiere'' magazine in 2006.<ref name="filmsite.org">{{Cite web| title = 100 Greatest Movie Performances of All Time |url=https://www.filmsite.org/100greatperformances3.html |website=filmsite.org | archive-date = October 11, 2007 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071011161940/https://www.filmsite.org/100greatperformances3.html | access-date = June 11, 2022 }}</ref> In 2012, the [[Motion Picture Editors Guild]] listed the film as the eleventh-best edited film of all time based on a survey of its membership.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cinemontage.org/75-best-edited-films/ |access-date=April 13, 2019 |title=The 75 Best Edited Films |website=Cinemontage – Journal of the Motion Picture Editors Guild |date=May 1, 2012}}</ref>

The film ranked 33rd on the BBC's 2015 list of "100 Greatest American Films", voted by film critics from around the world.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 20, 2015 |title=100 Greatest American Films |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916105535/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films |archive-date=September 16, 2016 |access-date=July 21, 2015 |work=BBC}}</ref> In 2016, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' ranked the film 8th among 69 counted winners of the [[Palme d'Or]] to date, concluding: "Made in a flash between the first two ''Godfather'' movies, Coppola’s existential spy thriller has since become a pinnacle of the genre."<ref>{{Cite web |last=THR Staff |date=May 10, 2016 |title=Cannes: All the Palme d'Or Winners, Ranked |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/cannes-palme-dor-winners-ranked-891143/item/best-intentions-palme-dor-winners-891108 |access-date=September 20, 2016 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''The Conversation'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

===Accolades===
''The Conversation'' won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, the highest honor at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2226/year/1974.html |title=Festival de Cannes: The Conversation |access-date=April 26, 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> The film was also nominated for three [[47th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]] for 1974,<ref name="Oscars1975">{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975 |title=The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners |access-date=October 2, 2011 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKKb_VLA57E Robert Towne Wins Original Screenplay: 1975 Oscars]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uqeiiDAck Earthquake Wins Best Sound: 1975 Oscars]</ref> but lost to Coppola's own ''[[The Godfather Part II]].'' It won the [[National Board of Review Award for Best Film]].{{sfn|Berliner|2010|p=61}}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col"| Award
! scope="col"| Date of ceremony
! scope="col"| Category
! scope="col"| Recipient(s)
! scope="col"| Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=3| [[Academy Awards]]
| rowspan="3" | [[47th Academy Awards|April 8, 1975]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
| rowspan="2" | [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3" | <ref name="Oscars1975"/>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] 
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]] 
| [[Walter Murch]] and [[Art Rochester]]
| {{nom}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=5| [[British Academy Film Awards]]
| rowspan="5" | [[28th British Academy Film Awards|1975]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
| Francis Ford Coppola
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="5" | <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1975/film? |title=Film in 1975 |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]}}</ref> 
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Gene Hackman]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Francis Ford Coppola
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
| Walter Murch, [[Richard Chew]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Soundtrack]]
| Art Rochester, [[Nat Boxer]], Mike Ejve, Walter Murch
| {{won}}
|-
! scope="row"| [[Cannes Film Festival]]
| rowspan="1" | [[1974 Cannes Film Festival|May 9–24, 1974]]
| [[Palme d'Or|Grand Prix du Festival International du Film]]
| rowspan="2" | Francis Ford Coppola
| {{won}}
| align="center" | <ref name="festival-cannes.com"/>
|-
! scope="row"| [[Directors Guild of America]]
| rowspan="1" | 1974
| Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
| {{nom}}
| align="center" | <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History.aspx |title=DGA Awards History |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[Directors Guild of America]]}}</ref> 
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=4| [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globes]]
| rowspan="4" | [[32nd Golden Globe Awards|January 25, 1975]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
!
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="4" | <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/film/conversation |title=Conversation, The |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]}}</ref> 
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2" | Francis Ford Coppola
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Gene Hackman
| {{nom}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=4| [[National Board of Review]]
| rowspan="4" | [[National Board of Review Awards 1974|December 25, 1974]]
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
!
| {{won}}
| align="center" rowspan="4" | <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1974/ |title=1974 Award Winners |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[National Board of Review]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Francis Ford Coppola
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Gene Hackman
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
!
| {{won}}
|-
! scope="row"| [[National Society of Film Critics]]
| rowspan="1" | [[1974 National Society of Film Critics Awards|January 5, 1975]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Francis Ford Coppola
| {{won}}
| align="center" | <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |date=December 19, 2009 |access-date=June 11, 2017 |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]]}}</ref> 
|-
|}

==''Enemy of the State''==
According to film critic [[Kim Newman]], the 1998 film ''[[Enemy of the State (film)|Enemy of the State]]'', which also stars Gene Hackman as co-protagonist, could be construed as a "continuation of ''The Conversation''". Hackman's character Edward Lyle in ''Enemy of the State'' closely resembles Caul: he dons the same translucent raincoat, and his workshop is nearly identical to Caul's. Also, the photograph used for Lyle in his NSA file is actually a photograph of Caul. ''Enemy of the State'' also includes a scene which is very similar to ''The Conversation''{{'}}s opening surveillance scene in San Francisco's Union Square.{{Sfn|Pramaggiore|Wallis|2005|p=283}}

==In other media== 
A television pilot starring [[Kyle MacLachlan]] as Harry Caul was produced for NBC. It was not picked up for a full series.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=August 6, 2008 |title=AMC, Krantz talking 'Conversation' |url=https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/amc-krantz-talking-conversation-1117990199/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123212248/https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/amc-krantz-talking-conversation-1117990199/ |archive-date=2015-11-23 |work=Variety}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1974]]
* [[List of films featuring surveillance]]
*''[[Blow Out]]'', a 1981 [[Brian De Palma]] film that is similar in content

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Berliner |first=Todd |date=2010 |title=Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292739543 }} 
* {{cite book |last=Ondaatje |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Ondaatje |date=2002 |title=The Conversations: [[Walter Murch]] and the Art of Editing Film |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing }} 
* {{cite book |last1=Pramaggiore |first1=Maria T. |last2=Wallis |first2=Tom |date=2005 |title=Film: A Critical Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CYJUwg69KsC&q=enemy+of+the+state+brill+the+conversation&pg=PA283 |access-date=May 22, 2017 |via=[[Google Books]] |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420153430/https://books.google.com/books?id=7CYJUwg69KsC&q=enemy+of+the+state+brill+the+conversation&pg=PA283 |archive-date=April 20, 2022 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |oclc=441674918 |isbn=1856694429 }}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/conversation.pdf ''The Conversation'' essay] by Peter Keough at [[National Film Registry]]
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|conversation}}
* {{IMDb title|0071360}}
* {{TCMDb title|71469}}
* {{AFI film|53857}}
* {{Metacritic film}}
* {{Mojo title|conversation}}
* [https://books.google.com/books/about/America_s_Film_Legacy.html?id=deq3xI8OmCkC ''The Conversation'' essay] by Daniel Eagan in ''America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide-to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry'', A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 704–705

{{Francis Ford Coppola}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''The Conversation''
|list =
{{Palme d'Or}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Film}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1970s American films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s mystery thriller films]]
[[Category:1970s psychological thriller films]]
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[[Category:American psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:American Zoetrope films]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (films)]]
[[Category:English-language mystery thriller films]]
[[Category:Fiction about mariticide]]
[[Category:Films about security and surveillance]]
[[Category:Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola]]
[[Category:Films produced by Francis Ford Coppola]]
[[Category:Films scored by David Shire]]
[[Category:Films set in 1972]]
[[Category:Films set in San Francisco]]
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[[Category:Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola]]
[[Category:Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
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