Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) values his anonymity highly. When he and his partner Stan (John Cazale) are hired by a mysterious client (Robert Duvall), who calls himself “the Director,” to follow a young couple, Harry deduces that the woman is the Director’s wife and the man is an employee with whom she is having an affair. Harry becomes convinced that the Director plans to murder the couple, and, haunted by guilt over a previous assignment where the information he provided resulted in the loss of lives, he begins his own investigation to prevent the murder.

The Conversation is a gripping psychological thriller, characterized by typical ’70s paranoia, inventive editing and sound design, and is widely considered one of Coppola’s best films.