tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post6090950894771873991..comments2024-03-18T17:02:06.917-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE CONVERSATION 1974Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-44547840465182933912020-08-23T17:56:36.889-07:002020-08-23T17:56:36.889-07:00Interesting observation.
I don't know if it wa...Interesting observation.<br />I don't know if it was Hitchcock or Martin Scorsese, but one of them made the point that with film, a medium where you are routinely asked to suspend logic via impossible POV camera angles, visual tricks that would have you looking "though" a solid door (as in THE BIRDS); logic or all the pieces coming together is often proved to be less important than people think (The Big Sleep).<br />I think aspects of THE CONVERSATION relate to this phenomenon. And yet there are certain films totally felled by an inattention to the hows and whys certain things are done.<br />I think stories plot-based told prosaically NEED to make sense; but if a movie's central focus is on the human drama...the inner conflicts and psychological complexities of relationships, I think the honest depiction of the emotional lives of the characters make the practical details of plot less important.<br />At least not until after you've gone home and thought about it for a while.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-43451073052102894642020-08-23T10:18:37.578-07:002020-08-23T10:18:37.578-07:00I love this movie, too, but you have to do some se...I love this movie, too, but you have to do some serious suspension of disbelief on the details of the murder or just accept that everything you see and hear is subject to a different meaning - the theme of the movie. Like Kathy Bates in Misery, my first viewing of the film kept bugging me on plot details: How did they clean up all that blood in the hotel room and only leave a bloody rag in the toilet? How did they get the body out of the hotel? Why did they even go through with the murder at the hotel when they were fully aware that Hackman was on to the plot? Why not just do it someplace else? Why does everyone refer to Duvall as "The Director" when he's obviously famous enough to have a dozen reporters show up at the office asking about his death? And finally, how can a man who's been stabbed to death be passed off as the victim of a car crash? All of these questions and yet I still love this movie. Also, John Cazale and Allen Garfield deserved nominations, too.Kipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-34502054135775921342017-05-14T07:40:54.868-07:002017-05-14T07:40:54.868-07:00Why, thank you very much! Gratifying to have a lon...Why, thank you very much! Gratifying to have a longtime fan of the film read my post. Appreciate your stopping by and taking the time to comment!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-91050969029003776492017-05-13T22:46:42.315-07:002017-05-13T22:46:42.315-07:00OUTSTANDING essay. I've been a fan of this fil...OUTSTANDING essay. I've been a fan of this film for several decades, thanks for the great screenshots as well!Tommy Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02150131602787950689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-1498673047121405362017-05-12T21:19:13.277-07:002017-05-12T21:19:13.277-07:00Hi Felix
Thanks a heap for mentioning David Shire&...Hi Felix<br />Thanks a heap for mentioning David Shire's terrific score. It really is one of those wonderfully invisible score that adds so much to the mood of a film, even heightening the tension and pulling our emotions toward a stronger reaction to a scene. but it does so in such an unshowy way, you almost have to check the film out again to realize that you were "hearing" it all the time without listening to it. Not to put down Bernard Herrmann, whose stuff is brilliant, but this is the antithesis of that style for me.<br />I have seen the marvelous film "Return to OZ" and I agree with you about what a strangely downbeat children's movie it is. I've seen it several times but it's been years. I had no idea it was directed by the sound man for this film.<br />Like you, I too think that hotel sequence is rather virtuoso in mixing tension and ambiguity. And the buildup to the bathroom scene is a killer. So chilling. I love how at that point in the film, we're as confused as harry as to what has transpired, so it all comes as such a shock.<br />I can well understand the Cindy Williams thing. For all the fame of Harrison Ford and Robert Duvall, hers is the most cemented to a single character. I lucked out in never having watched the show, and so the quality she brings is of appearing to be very ordinary, but sympathetic and guileless. However, given how Williams' look seemed never to change (and she never seemed to age) I can well imagine her being impossible to separate from her Shirley persona.<br />Thank you very much for your complimentary words, and I'm very glad you enjoyed the piece. I appreciate your contribution here, adding a younger person's perspective of a very '70s film. Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-62563683060714627632017-05-12T18:03:23.187-07:002017-05-12T18:03:23.187-07:00Hi Ken,
As always, you have written a fantastic e...Hi Ken,<br /><br />As always, you have written a fantastic essay. I remember watching this movie in a film course called Mavericks of 70s Cinema (not sure if it was my first time seeing it, but if not it was most likely my second). I always thought the scene in which Hackman is in the hotel room trying to hear what's going on next door was one of the most masterfully crafted scenes I've ever encountered. It's so fraught with tension, uneasiness, and ambiguity. And the moment he flushes the toilet and the blood rises up absolutely scared the hell out of me! Such a great film, and probably my favorite from Coppola.<br /><br />I also have to put in a word for David Shire's score. It's so simple, perhaps minimalist (I'm not a musical person, so I'm not sure if that's the correct term), but so haunting. I wonder if you've ever seen the 1985 Disney movie "Return to Oz"? It was the sole directorial effort of Walter Murch, the sound designer on "The Conversation," and also features music by David Shire. It's a notoriously depressive children's movie, almost as much an examination of loneliness and social disconnection as 70s films like this and "Taxi Driver," plus it even features some distorted dialogue effects similar to those heard in this film.<br /><br />Cindy Williams' casting is the only thing that truly distracts me here. Of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her performance, but as a 90s kid brought up on endless reruns of Laverne & Shirley on TBS and Nick at Nite, I've just never been able to see her as anyone other than Shirley Feeney. Even when we watched the film in my college course, I'm pretty sure we just referred to her character as Shirley in our class discussion the next day!Felix Gonzalez, Jr.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-71848660126221880132017-05-12T12:56:43.247-07:002017-05-12T12:56:43.247-07:00Hi Michael
Nice to read such a thoughtful take on ...Hi Michael<br />Nice to read such a thoughtful take on one of my favorite movies. I especially cite your comment regarding how a film like this would certainly be made today, but that its low-key elements would certainly be dramatized. They always have "ordinary" men behaving in insanely superhuman ways in movies (Die Hard comes to mind). One of the reasons I like "The Conversation" so much and why it stands out as one of the few male-centric films among my favorites, is due to its lack of stroking the male ego. Harry is shown to be vulnerable and conflicted, and his response to crisis (the marvelous scene in the hotel room where he tries to blot out all sound) is confined to very human scale. No macho grandstanding. The confrontation with the security guards you mentioned is a perfect example; it plays out like it would in real life. Nowadays I could see Johnny Depp or tom Cruise punching out these guys and racing up the stairs in victory.<br /><br />And indeed, the sound mixing is almost the real star (or co-star) of the film. it carries us along in an almost Hitchcockian way, making us hear things as harry does, revealing information only as he gets it, creating this enormous bond of identification. it's really masterful how cinematic it is. I recently saw "Personal Shopper" a film that makes extensive use of cell phone texting as a means of conveying information. It's accomplished, but nothing like the tension and dread Coppola squeezes out of his film. You're so right when you say: "It takes a great director to make a scene of a middle-aged balding man fiddling around with tape recorders feel so tense and thrilling."<br /><br />Glad to read that Elizabeth's McRae's performance struck a chord with you, too. You describe well precisely the levels she brings to her performance that make her brief screen time so intriguing. I love when supporting characters are written in a way as to make it easy to imagine them existing outside of the central narrative narrative. Virtually everyone in "The Conversation" comes across that way to me.<br /><br />And thanks for providing a balance of perspective regarding mimes. I know everyone can't have as strong an aversion to them as I, so it's nice to present the other side. Especially since you actually remembering seeing him, too! (great memory about going to City of Paris, by the way).<br />just brilliant that you just recently watched this! I'm glad you did and were able to contribute such fresh observations. Much appreciated, Michael. If we sync up on my next post, we'll have to look into ESP studies!<br />Thanks!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-69077932785029827942017-05-11T11:24:32.162-07:002017-05-11T11:24:32.162-07:00Hi Ken,
It’s spooky how often our movie viewings ...Hi Ken,<br /><br />It’s spooky how often our movie viewings are syncing up. Last week I got a handful of 1970s films on sale on DVD and this was one of them. I had never seen The Conversation before but it was an amazing movie. We’ve talked before about how the 1970s were a particularly fertile time for movies and this is a great example of what was possible then. This story could certainly be told in film today but not in this way. The low-key but pervasive dread and the grim, almost hopeless feel of the ending would surely be replaced with a more flamboyant paranoia, with lots of chances for scenery chewing, and a car chase or two. The scene towards the end where Gene Hackman tries to get past the security guards and they just carry him down the stairs and let him walk out of the building is a chilling example of how ineffectual the villains think he is. And they are right. <br /><br />Your screen grabs, as always, are excellent and do a fine job of highlighting the visual excellence of the movie. But as good as the movie looked, I though the sound design was stellar. The scenes where Gene Hackman was working on the tapes trying to isolate the voices was masterful. I loved the way that as the words became clearer and easier to understand their meanings became more ambiguous. It takes a great director to make a scene of a middle-aged balding man fiddling around with tape recorders feel so tense and thilling.<br /><br />And, as you mentioned, the cast was wonderful. Elizabeth McRae reminded me a bit of Art Carney in The Late Show, of how with just a subtle change of inflection an actor known for comedy can deliver a performance of depth and sadness. The scene at the convention when she was demonstrating the phone was wonderful. I loved how when she was demonstrating the phone she balanced the flirty sexiness of a model with thinly disguised contempt for everyone who was watching her. I want to know more of her story.<br /><br />The scenes of 1970s San Francisco were a nice bonus. My grandmother used to take the family to the City of Paris every December to look of the Christmas tree in the rotunda before our annual viewing of The Nutcracker. And while I do understand your antipathy towards mimes, I do want to offer a weak defense of Robert Shields. The brief period that Robert Shields was working in Union Square was something. I saw him a handful of times back then and he did a lot more than just mimic the people walking past. He would create little vignettes that he would play with the onlookers and more often than not they were wonderful. He was careful not to mock the participants and he himself was usually the butt of the humor. But as he became more famous the tenor of the crowd changed. More people began showing up who wanted to be part of the act, and the spark went out. Sadly, that brief moment when one talented man figured out a way to successfully perform mime in an improvised, public setting has led to armies of semi-talented folks pulling unseen ropes and trying to get out of invisible boxes on the sidewalk where I’m trying to walk. Robert Shields didn’t ask for mimes to become a public scourge but he did inspire them and one day he will have to answer for that.<br /><br />Michael<br />Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-36824772557934524282017-05-11T02:19:06.388-07:002017-05-11T02:19:06.388-07:00Hello, Loulou
Yes, the cast is really something,is...Hello, Loulou<br />Yes, the cast is really something,isn't it? Before obscene levels of fame and fortune derailed Coppola and George Lucas from the kind of independent, people-based films they professed to be most interested in making, they shared a kind of mini-repertory company of players they used in their early films.<br />It's nice seeing a big star like Hackman underplay (you've got to tell me sometime why he's not much of a favorite. I tend to like him depending on the role), or Harrison Ford in a small role against "type."<br />And you mentioned Cindy Williams: I take it you've never seen her singing and dancing in "The First Nudie Musical"? (Very '70s movie, and not necessarily in a good way) <br />I avoided "The Conversation" for years as well. I thought it was just going to be just another detective thriller. Then I saw it at a revival theater in the 80s and was so pissed I missed seeing it when it first came out. I was bowled over and very nicely surprised.<br /><br />And yes, Robert Shields...violence is never good, but mimes are sort of asking for it, anyway, aren't they? Like clowns. <br />Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed the essay!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-85069334312736342782017-05-10T05:48:36.331-07:002017-05-10T05:48:36.331-07:00Wow, what a cast. I didn't know Harrison Ford ...Wow, what a cast. I didn't know Harrison Ford was in this too, and Cindy Williams actually did something besides American Graffiti and L & S. Not being a Gene Hackman fan I avoided this movie like the plague but your (once again) great essay gives me the motivation to check it out. It's on Amazon for a song. LOL on Robert Shields. I wonder how many times he's gotten punched in the face, not that that's a good thing of course. loulou de la falaisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17120127948192259286noreply@blogger.com