Outstanding and far too underrated thriller from an absolute directorial legend

Outstanding and far too underrated thriller from an absolute directorial

The dialogue is on TV today and shows a dizzying downward spiral full of paranoia and surveillance. This results in a thriller that is still extremely exciting today, which is no wonder. After all, it comes from the directing legend Francis Ford Coppola.

Today on TV: That’s what the thriller The Dialogue with Gene Hackman is about

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) works as Eavesdropping specialist and is a true master of his craft. He follows strict rules and tries, for example, to concern himself as little as possible with the background to his orders. But as time goes on this becomes more and more difficult and Harry suspects that his spying could cause real damage.

The spicy work also affects his private life. Harry soon fears that he himself will be listened to – which actually seems to be true. The eavesdropping specialist becomes more and more afraid and slowly but surely sinks into a whirlpool of paranoia, his own insider knowledge and surveillance technology.

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Dialogue was written at the height of his career and has lost none of its relevance today

The Dialogue was originally filmed before the Watergate affair, but was only released afterwards. Of course, it still functions as a reaction to this and in some cases the same interception technology was even used. Francis Ford Coppola had only catapulted into the Hollywood Olympus a few years earlier with The Godfather and lives out everything here in the spirit of the New Hollywood movement.

The result is a thriller that may seem a bit unwieldy, but at the same time remains absolutely exciting and frightening. Omnipresent surveillance was already an issue and a threat in the 1970s, as it is here Isolation, distrust and paranoia leads. Today, as technology advances, the topicality only increases.

Anyone who wants to feel a little more uncomfortable when it comes to… threatening technology developments and possible surveillance scenarios can deal with so-called artificial intelligence. An AI stole 139,000 films and series: Breaking Bad, The Simpsons and countless other works are affected.

TV or stream: When and where does the dialogue come?

Francis Ford Coppola’s Dialogue expires today, Monday, December 2, 2024 9:40 p.m. on arte. The film lasts until 11:35 p.m. and there are no commercial breaks or repeats.

But you can also stream The Dialogue if you feel like it. At Paramount+ you can find it as part of the streaming flat rate. Otherwise, it is also available on the usual video-on-demand platforms such as Amazon or Apple TV.

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