The Conversation

The Conversation (1974)

3 corrected entries

(3 votes)

Corrected entry: In the opening shot of Union Square from above, all pedestrians have very long shadows. Later we learn that the action took place during the lunch hour. The sun should have been higher and the shadows shorter.

Correction: The shadows in the scene are pointing nearly North, actually just east of North, Indicating the time is roughly about 1:00pm. Also, based on the length of the shadows and the clothing people are wearing, it appears to be winter. There's no mistake here.

Corrected entry: Gene Hackman's character has been listening at the door of Terri Garr's apartment. When he finally enters her apartment and she tells him she feels like he's somehow listening to her, the boom mike is visible in the frame in several shots in the scene.

Correction: I watched this scene several times watching for a boom mic to appear. Never saw it. I think what you saw was the top of the door frame. There is a conspicuous reflection there that could be mistaken for something entering the scene from above the frame. But it's not a boom mic.

Corrected entry: Throughout the movie when Gene Hackman listens to the conversation on tape, the man says "He'd kill us if he has the chance," with no emphasis on any one word. But at the end of the film after the murder, he thinks back, and the man says "He'd kill US if he has the chance," stressing the word "us." That totally changes the significance of the sentence. If it was used throughout, it would have been easy to guess the twist at the end.

Correction: Harry sees (and hears) things in a different way than others. He probably was so paranoid about causing another murder that he heard one word being stressed instead of another. Indeed, the film also seems to be about how people perceive things differently.

Continuity mistake: Gene Hackman returns a second cookie to Harrison Ford's dish that he hadn't taken - or perhaps it's the same cookie he picked up and returned a moment earlier. Either way, the cookie had suddenly appeared in Hackman's hands going from one shot to another. (00:30:35)

TonyPH

More mistakes in The Conversation

Harry Caul: I'm not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder.

More quotes from The Conversation

Trivia: The final repetition of the line "He'd kill us if he had the chance" had its inflection changed because preview audiences became preoccupied with questions over whether Harry had misinterpreted the couple's conversation or if they were deliberately being misleading (or both). The ambiguity was initially intended, but appeared to work a little too well and distracted the audience from appreciating the rest of the ending, so this delivery of the line was made more definitive.

TonyPH

More trivia for The Conversation

Question: What's the name of the piano solo music which can be heard throughout the movie? Since the movie has no soundtrack, can someone please give me its name and the place where it can be found?

Answer: The Movie has a soundtrack, and that lovely piano solo music is actually the theme song, composed by composer David Shire. You can find it here, on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Conversation-David-Shire/dp/B000N4P5XA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1202051411&sr=1-1.

More questions & answers from The Conversation

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