Critical review: How original was The Conversation taking into account its historical and social context and how much was Coppola really inspired by other texts?
In this essay I will be exploring the concept of inspiration and originality in relation to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation.
The Conversation was released in 1974, it is a psychological thriller written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gene Hackman. The concept behind the film was to create a “horror film about how this mans work affects his life, his personality”. Although it did not follow the normal conventions of a horror film it was clear that the intention was for it to be unconventional, original and thrilling. The film was not a huge box office hit, however it was very critically acclaimed and won 11 awards and 11 nominations including 3 Oscar nominations and the Palme d’Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Francis Ford Coppola was reaching the pinnacle of his film making career in the 1970’s when this was released in between the two Godfather films, for which Coppola is most recognised for. The Conversation is often slated as the film he actually wanted to make, while The Godfather he directed because he needed the money. The executives at Warner Bros had actually denounced many projects which they had in a development deal with Zoetrope (Coppola’s film studio). So various films projects, Apocalypse Now [1979], American Graffiti [1973], The Black Stallion [1979] and even The Conversation were abandoned. “It was out of this crisis that Francis considered directing The Godfather [1972], as a way of making ends meet.” says Walter Murch (the films editor). This shows us how important The Conversation was to Coppola personally that he even took on a project which he initially was not interested in, to be able to fund his own personal interest film.
Upon careful analysis of The Conversation there are many elements which indicate that Coppola was inspired by a few other texts. Coppola himself states in an interview that “I think it is fine for young people to out and out, just rip-off the people who come before them because, you do that, but you always make it your own.” According to Murch, the film Blowup (1966) by Michelangelo Antonioni, was quite a clear influence on Coppola, especially thematically; “Francis had seen it a year or two before, and had the idea to fuse the concept of Blowup with the world of audio surveillance.”(Ondaatje, 2002, p. 152) Coppola however was not content on copying, although the film is certainly reminiscent of Blowup and the character exploration; it remains distinctly in it’s own league. Coppola even acknowledges this influence with his intertextuality of the opening scene of The Conversation featuring Mime art, which also happens in the opening of Blowup. Even Coppola’s protagonist of the film is based on a character from a book he was reading at the time called Steppenwolf. Henry Haller is the name of the main character in that book and Murch says that in The Conversation Gene Hackman’s character was originally called Harry Caller but then had it shortened to Harry Call (which was then misspelt to Caul). Aside from just the name, they share similar attributes as characters, both are quiet, lonely men feeling disjointed in their lives. Another concept which originated from that book is the idea that the audience only ever experience things through Harry Caul as he is featured in every scene and there are no asides. This happens in Steppenwolf also, as the book is presented as a manuscript written by the protagonist. In both texts you never have the advantage over the character of oversight, you constantly experience things as they do and in essence it becomes a character study.
These films and text which were confirmed as directly influential to Coppola have arguably a profound effect on the film itself. The Conversation was based as a personal remake of Blowup; when Coppola saw it he exclaimed “ah I want to make films like that!” and throughout the film we can see many similar qualities. In this aspect there was a lot of impact from the texts which inspired him. While most film critics recognised the similarities between Blowup and The Conversation, there are other more subtle influences which Coppola hinted at. Take for instance the fact that Walter Murch considered The Conversation’s blend of dramatic mystery of corporate takeover and murder “an [Alfred] Hitchcock kind of idea,”. He also said “the tale harkens back to Rear Window [1954] and Vertigo [1958] where the obsessions of the central figure are as important as the unfolding criminal investigation”. Coppola suggested these things were true and also alluded to other more subtle things like using Union Square as the location for his opening scene, which Hitchcock has already done for his film Birds (1963) and had also featured it in several shots of Vertigo (1958). Union Square was a landmark however and the connection to Hitchcock’s film would not have been a connection of intertextuality that the audience would have made. These were Coppola’s own personal devices.
Despite these arguments that The Conversation was very influenced and copied there are a lot of original concepts which Coppola came up with. He put in quite a few elements of his own life into the film. Harry Caul was not just based on a Steppenwolf character, growing up Coppola was a very interested in technology as Murch says; “I think it was easy for Francis to understand Harry Caul and his craft, out of his own experience.” And that Coppola also used stories from his childhood in the script; “Harry bugged the neighbours’ phones when he was twelve, that’s actually a story about Francis when he was twelve.” Another factor is the way in which the film was perceived by the audience and critics. The political upheaval at the time was due to the Watergate scandal with the first president in history resigning from his administration. In weighed heavily in the public conscious and obviously when The Conversation came out, it intrinsically linked to the scandal through its technology and themes of government/corporate corruption and espionage. People assumed it was Coppola’s inspiration for the film and his reaction towards the scandal. However the script had been completed in the mid 1960’s and Coppola had said “I never meant it to be so relevant,” he said. “I almost think the picture would have been better received if Watergate had not happened.”
Ultimately I think The Conversation is unashamedly influenced and even defined in some sense by the films that came before it. This is not an opinion that it contrary to Coppola’s own thought about it. He himself said it is flattering that people copy his ideas into their own films. If you analyse The Conversation carefully you notice that while it dealt with certain themes and concepts originally it was largely inspired by other great directors and films.
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Gerald Peary
(From American Movie Classics Magazine, Fall 2000)
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http://geraldpeary.com/essays/the/the_conversation.html
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