The Conversation

Although not as formidable in scope and ambition as the Godfather films, this paranoid thriller is arguably one of the high points of the director Francis Ford Coppola’s extraordinary run of form in the early 1970s.

As a thriller alone, The Conversation would be worth our attention. But as a thriller which also expresses our actual and collective nightmares, it absolutely demands it.

Its enveloping chill feels, looks and - crucially, in a story about a man who eavesdrops for a living - sounds as arresting as ever.

"The Conversation" truly feels both timeless and of the moment.

Set against a claustrophobic backdrop of post-Watergate paranoia, Coppola's favourite of his films hinges on the intonation of a single word.

Coming after the dark, sumptuous classicism of The Godfather, The Conversation's choppy, elliptical style looked almost like the work of a different filmmaker, one willing to take risks with new forms and techniques.

Yes, Coppola made this between the first two Godfathers. But it's also important about the 1972/1974 interregnum is that it was the years between the Watergate break-in and Nixon's resignation (50th anniversary)

Although lacking the epic sweep and operatic grandeur of the movies that bookended it, it more than makes up for it with spare, assured, and measured storytelling, supreme character development. It's the finest solo screenwriting of Coppola’s career.

The Conversation is a classic thriller, but it’s Coppola’s nuanced exploration of Harry’s life that elevates it above typical genre fare.

There's a lot to be said about the fine line between privacy and technology but The Conversation is a timeless and provocative thriller.