The Conversation

The Conversation presents Coppola’s view on what happens to the religion and morality in the modern age when the technology gives us more power. Throughout the film, the main character Caul struggles to find a reconciliation between religion and technology, between morality/privacy and the omniscience. On one hand, he is almost the symbolization of the modern technology, as he makes use of the listening devices to make a living (and he is among the best). However, his inability and fear of controlling the technology can be seen in his paranoia in his daily life. He never tells others his phone number, and never leaves it to the address list. He got so anxious when someone sent him a birthday gift into his house. He never tells his mistress what he is doing, which eventually costs him to lose her. The ending then is extremely bleak, in the way that he was completely devastated in his paranoia after he got to know they were listening to him. What is also extremely intriguing is the ironic message that is conveyed by the listening technology. People are able to peek on the private conversations between individuals with the help of the technology. Nevertheless, even though knowing the exact content of the recording, it seems impossible to know what people are actually thinking. His confusion and indecisiveness between the two worlds of morality and technology is dramatized by the conflict between his religious faith and his deeds. He claims that he is not responsible for the content of what he is recording, but during the confession, he tells the audience that he is sorry for the death of the 3 persons due to his tapes. His confessions eventually paved the way for him to realize the consequence of his actions. All of his emotions of confusions and struggles driven him to the extreme of his paranoia. In terms of the religious aspect, this film reminds me of Coppola’s other two films: The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. The sequence when the main character realized what the lovers did to his client reminds me of the baptism ritual and the murder sequences in The Godfather. It is because of the montage that is presented back and forth between two plots that the contrast between the two scenes can be emphasized. Also, when portraying the religion’s presence in the film, Coppola’s personal style is really strong. The sequence when the protagonist was confessing in the church has the similar atmosphere the ending of the movie Apocalypse Now. Both used saturated and colorful visuals and contrasted light/shadows to present the emotions related to the religion

Influenced by the French New Wave: consciously imitating The Blowup Gene Hackman One hour into the film, the protagonist brags about his job The surrealism of the scenes represent the psychological state of the protagonist