Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

The Conversation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 5, 2011

Winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; audio commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola; audio commentary by film editor Walter Murch; excerpts from Francis Ford Coppola dictating the the film script; interview with composer composer David Shire; screen tests with Harrison Ford and Cindy Williams; and more. In English, with optional English SDH and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

They know where I live...

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a professional eavesdropper, possibly the best in the business. He designs and constructs his own equipment but never talks about it. Even his competitors admire his work and ability to do jobs that no one else can. Harry is living a legend, a man who can do no wrong.

Harry is also a very lonely man. There is a girl (Teri Garr) he occasionally sees, but she has already realized that she needs him more than he needs her – which is why she has decided to move on. It won’t be easy because Harry has been taking care of her rent, but men like him never change. They can truly love only their work.

Harry’s latest job is to tape a young couple – a beautiful woman (Cindy Williams), who is married to a wealthy businessman (Robert Duvall), and her lover (Frederic Forrest), a man who works for him. The two know that the businessman suspects that there is something between them, which is why they are extra careful when they meet and talk.

But Harry and his men have just followed them to San Francisco's Union Square and successfully recorded their latest conversation, proving that they are indeed having an affair. Harry does not know the businessman or why he is interested in the couple, but what he offered to pay him was good enough to convince him to do the job. Now that the job is done, it is time to collect.

As previously arranged, Harry meets the businessman’s assistant (Harrison Ford), who is going to pay him for his tapes and photos. However, before he hands them to him, something inside him snaps because he remembers something he’d heard on the tapes: “He'd kill us if he had the chance”. Will his client really do it? Could he kill the woman and her lover?

Surprising even himself, Harry turns around and walks away. His instincts had never lied to him and now they are telling him that his tapes and photos could inspire his client to do something terrible.

What makes Francis Ford Coppola’s film so fascinating to behold is the fact that it essentially tells two very different but very good stories while following a single character – one is about a fascinating mystery, the other about a lonely man who suddenly realizes that he can no longer ignore the consequences of his unusual work. There is an interesting moral dilemma to ponder as well: Does one have the right to expose someone else’s secrets and judge them just because one can?

Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up was a major source of inspiration for Coppola, and it is easy to see why, but the sense of paranoia here is far more intense and far less ambiguous than that witnessed in the film of the legendary Italian master; Caul’s character transformation is triggered by his realization that his work is far more damaging than he had ever cared to admit, and that the shadow world he belongs to is far bigger and far more ruthless than he had ever imagined; in Blow-Up the main protagonist belongs to the real world and accidentally becomes involved with a murder case.

Hackman is superb as the lonely eavesdropper. The long sequence at the end of the film where he is seen alone in his apartment is incredible – he is in a quiet hell from which there is no way out. Allen Garfield is also very good as Harry’s most ambitious competitor.

The film is also complimented by a simple but very elegant jazz score courtesy of Oscar winning composer David Shire (Norma Rae, Zodiac). The sound editing and special effects courtesy of Walter Murch and Art Rochester are also first-class.

The Conversation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

Generally speaking, the presentation is good. The softness and murkiness that plagued the old Paramount DVD release of The Conversation are completely gone, color reproduction is dramatically improved, and contrast levels stabilized. Furthermore, even during the surveillance sequences definition is very good. The thick edge-enhancement from the DVD release is also eliminated. This being said, the presentation is far from flawless. There is a fairly obvious layer of extremely light machine noise that covers the film grain. It is not as problematic as the thick machine noise present on Don't Look Now, but it is on the transfer and often times makes the grain look lumpy. Occasionally it also has a tendency to make the film look rather harsh (see screencapture #19). The good news, however, is that in motion detail and fluidity remain quite pleasing. When the film is projected, the colors also do not collapse.

I also tested the U.S. release of The Conversation, whose transfer appears to have been sourced from the same master Optimum Home Entertainment had access to. The U.S. transfer is slightly cropped to 1.78:1. My impression is that the machine noise mentioned above is also a tad more prominent on it. Therefore, if you are yet to add The Conversation to your collection, consider the Region-B release first. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content. For the record, the disc's main menu could be set in English or German).

The Conversation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are four audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 1.0 (original), English LPCM 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and German LPCM 2.0. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English SDH and German subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM 1.0 track is excellent. In fact, as far as I am concerned it is a good enough reason to enthusiastically recommend this Blu-ray release of The Conversation. Its dynamic amplitude is fairly limited, as it should be, but there is a wonderful crispness that gives the unique audio effects in the film a tremendous boost. On the Paramount R1 DVD these audio effects sound quite flat and dull, more often than not even out of place. Now they blend well and enhance the tense atmosphere.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has a far better dynamic range, but I prefer the original mono track. The Conversation is a very unique film that has to be experienced in a certain way. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track opens up the film quite a lot and gives it a contemporary feel that I believe is inappropriate. Nevertheless, you should experiment with both and see which one you like better. For the record, I did not detect any problematic dropouts or sync issues to report in this review.

The Conversation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for The Conversation. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Cindy Williams Screen Test - Cindy Williams does Amy's part (in the film Amy, Harry's girlfriend, is played by Terri Gar). In English, with optional German subtitles. (5 min, 1080p).

• Harrison Ford Screen Test - this screen test with Harrison Ford, who plays the director's assistant, was done on 11.08.1972. In English, with optional German subtitles. (7 min, 1080p).

• No Cigar - Francis Ford Coppola's first short film about a lonely middle-aged man (played by his Uncle Clarence). In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• David Shire Interview - Francis Ford Coppola interviews composer David Shire, who scored The Conversation. In English, with optional German subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

• Then & Now - a 2011 look at a number of locations seen in The Conversation. In English, with optional German subtitles. (4 min, 1080p).

• Gene Hackman Interview - in this archival interview, filmed on February 12th, 1973, Gene Hackman discusses his character and professional relationship with Francis Ford Coppola. In English, with optional German subtitles. (5 min, 1080p).

• Script Dictations - excerpts from Francis Ford Coppola dictating The Conversation script. (A year before shooting began on The Conversation, the director sat with a recorded in the cafe Trieste in San Francisco and dictated the entire screenplay). In English, with optional German subtitles. (50 min, 1080p).
  
  -- Opening Sequences
  -- The Life of Harry Caul
  -- The Convention
  -- Introduction to Frank Lovista
  -- Jack Tar Hotel
  -- Police Station Ending

• Close-up on The Conversation - a wonderful featurette with raw footage from the shooting of The Conversation. In English, with optional German subtitles. (9 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - a fascinating audio commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola in which he deconstructs The Conversation, discusses the film's production history, and his body of work. The director also talks about the film that inspired him to shoot The Conversation, Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up, David Shire's music score, his desire to write as well as Tennessee Williams, etc.

• Commentary - a second, very strong audio commentary by editor Walter Murch, who discusses specific aspects of the film's frame composition, the unique texture David Shire's score gave The Conversation, the fascinating story the film tells, etc.

The Conversation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation is without a doubt one of the great films of the 70s. Strangely enough, it does not feel dated at all. There are plenty of men like Harry Caul who get paid to deliver important secrets, or manufacture them, and the best probably work for different governments around the world.
The film looks good on Blu-ray, but it could have looked even better. Having tested the U.S. and UK releases, I lean towards the UK one. RECOMMENDED.