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Written by: Francis Ford Coppola
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford
Rated: PG [PG-13]
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Plot
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Verdict
On a technical level this movie is amazing with the visuals reinforcing the plot. The story is understated. A surveillance expert begins to think someone is watching him. Is it paranoia due to his job or reality based on what he knows? He's haunted by his current operation and the past. That makes him more invested than he should be. It's a deliberate movie that puts you in the protagonist's head. It often feels like we're surveilling him. Harry begins to get a sense of how his targets feel, and he doesn't like that.
Watch It.
Review
This was Coppola's follow-up to The Godfather, despite having completed the script in the mid-sixties. Coincidentally, the film used the same surveillance and wire-tapping equipment that the Nixon Administration used to spy on political opponents. With the release of the film in proximity to Nixon's resignation, the contemporary audience incorrectly thought this was a response and the equipment was chosen due to newspaper stories. Neither were true.
It has a degree of The Lives of Others, both about a surveillance analyst getting too immersed in their work.
This opens with what today would be drone footage. We see an expansive, busy courtyard as the camera gets closer, eventually landing on Harry Caul (Gene Hackman). We then follow a couple as the audio of their conversation fades in and out. It's clear they're being surveilled by Harry. He's a surveillance expert. Later through a phone conversation we learn Harry is very private when his landlord enters his apartment. Harry is surprised that there's a second key, thinking he had the only copy. Harry's job has made him extremely paranoid.
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| Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul |
The movie is very deliberate in shots, from the depth to framing. It's meant to invoke the sense of surveillance. Shots are wide and distant. It's like we're on the outside looking in, seeing the world as Harry does.
Harry pieces together a conversation recorded from the opening. I wondered how he prevents himself from becoming engaged. What's the couple discussing? Is the reason he gets mad at a colleague asking about the couple is because that betrays Harry's own interest? Harry states it's not his job to care, but that might be exactly why he's mad. By manipulating the audio, Harry concludes the couple is in danger. Are they worried about the person that hired Harry?
Harry seems to be a devout Catholic. How does he reconcile that with spying on people? While he does have concerns, we hear him make excuses about how he's not responsible for how people use his work. We also learn at a convention that Harry is a legend in the field. One of the people at the convention shares Harry's past, how he bugged an unbuggable boat, but that job also led to people dying. We can surmise Harry left New York because of that incident.
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| Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul |
Throughout the movie Harry becomes more agitated, worried he's being followed and concerned his current operation may end up with people dying. The nature of his job plays into that, but his employer may think he knows too much. He delays delivering the tapes, but that's only a short term solution. Unable to separate himself from this job, he uncovers secrets he likely didn't want to see. Harry spied on people that were unaware of his eavesdropping and the danger that put them in. Harry is worried someone is spying on him, and he knows exactly how dangerous that can be. He couldn't leave well enough alone, but he couldn't again bear to play a part in his work being the reason people die. This isn't a business where you can get attached.
We watch Harry break down throughout the movie. Everything that happens stems from Harry, his current actions, and his past mistakes. If he had just provided the tapes as his client asked, could all of this have been prevented? At the same time, Harry experiences a little bit of what the people he followed felt; the invasion of privacy, the paranoia, and the fear.
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