Review of The Conversation

A paranoid detective journey into the world of sound and conversations. Possibly the most chilling films ever made in the 70s 'conspiracy theory' genre. The Conversation frightens with its grim, gripping view of the surveillance world.

The Director of a large anonymous corporation hires surveillance expert Harry Caul to record a young couple's private conversation. The film opens with Caul and assistants eavesdropping the said exchange in a busy square with an assortment of concealed mics.

Haunted by the bloody consequences of an earlier assignment, Caul becomes convinced that his ingenious invasions of privacy will put the young couple's lives at risk. The tapes contain the phrase "He'd kill us if he had the chance", and it is this which Harry obsesses over. Finally, in taking action to prevent further bloodshed, he shatters his own deeply private world.