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Master Rank #184

The Conversation

1974

GCML Total9.0040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

CastGene Hackman · John Cazale · Allen Garfield

USAEnglishCrime / Drama113 minPG
GCML CuratedNarrative FeatureBrisk pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
BAFTA · 2Cannes · 1

Spoiler-free premise

A surveillance specialist becomes troubled by the private conversation he has been hired to record.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

San Francisco surveillance expert Harry Caul records a young couple for an unidentified client using microphones placed around a crowded public square. A troubling phrase in the reconstructed conversation awakens his guilt and suspicion about how the recording may be used.

Why it belongs

Francis Ford Coppola makes sound editing an ethical drama, trapping Harry Caul inside fragments he can clarify technically but not ethically.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Repeated tape loops, shifting emphasis, wire mesh, glass, crowded frames, and David Shire's sparse piano keep perception unstable—Gene Hackman's withdrawn Harry reveals a man skilled at hearing others yet terrified of being known.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
BAFTA2 wins1975 · official BAFTA 1975 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 2 additional wins

No headline-category win to name

Cannes1 win1974 · official festival record ↗

Plus 1 additional win

No headline-category win to name

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
FamilyFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

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