The Conversation is a American neo-noir [ 2 ] mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder.
The Conversation premiered at the Cannes Film Festival , where it won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film , the festival's highest prize, and was released theatrically on April 7, , by Paramount Pictures to critical acclaim. In , it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Harry Caul, a surveillance expert in San Francisco , specializes in wiretapping services. He and his team are hired by a client, who identifies himself as "the Director", to eavesdrop on a couple walking through 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 own personal life, haunted by guilt from a past job that resulted in three deaths. Despite Caul's insistence that he is not responsible for how his clients use the surveillance, he is troubled by guilt and his Catholic faith. When he discovers a potentially dangerous phrase in the recording, "He'd kill us if he got the chance," Caul becomes increasingly paranoid.
His attempt to deliver the recording is thwarted, and he believes he is being followed and tricked. After a party at his workshop, Caul spends the night with a woman, Meredith, and the tapes are stolen. He receives a call from Martin Stett, the Director's assistant, informing him that they have the tapes, and that the Director couldn't wait any longer, so Caul must also deliver the pictures taken, and collect his money in a meeting with them, that same day.
