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Review of The Conversation (David Shire)

2001 Intrada

2023 Silva Screen

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... only if you have an appreciation for this very fine film, because the score can best be enjoyed by listeners who can place its unconventional minimalism in context.

Avoid it... if you expect the extensive solo piano work by David Shire for this score to maintain a consistent tone, due mostly to the insertion of early synthetic distortion as specific accompaniment to the story.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Conversation: (David Shire) "He'd kill us if he had the chance." This line, the most memorable from one of the very best films of the mid-1970's, highlights the Francis Ford Coppola thriller starring Gene Hackman and a young Harrison Ford. The Conversation is a film for which sound editing was paramount, because the plot of Coppola's story revolves around a private investigator (Hackman) whose life is completely consumed by the controlled environment of his eavesdropping technologies. The story and its characters are gut-wrenching in their sorrow, malice, and determination, and the film has a whopper of twist at the end that left audiences feeling as though they'd been had. Technologically, the elements of sound are the most complex feature of the film, with much of its overall production period spent in the post-shooting process of using the newest electronics to manipulate the sounds which Hackman's character is heard recording on his equipment. Composer David Shire, a brother-in-law of Coppola, was approached to score the film at a time in his career when he was looking for a big break. When first learning of the opportunity to score The Conversation, Shire was sure that the Coppola film would afford him a big budget with which to write for a large orchestra, and his career would subsequently take off. When he instead discovered that Coppola wanted the entire score to be performed by one instrument, Shire was shocked. Little did he know, however, that The Conversation was indeed destined be the career breakthrough he was looking for after all. The score is studied even today as an example of minimalistic scoring at its very finest. The purpose of the music was simply to extend the introverted persona of Hackman's character, Harry Caul, and it succeeds very well at this task.

That main character is a painfully lonely man, paid for audio eavesdropping in a large city environment, and because of this occupation and setting, Caul has (along with his own sax performances) visions of his own life in an alternatively jazzy sort of world. To accompany Caul's emotionally dangerous journey, Shire's score consists largely of one instrument: the piano. Shire's own piano performances are, in many ways, the heart of the film, and in the final cut, they are an elegant way of allowing all the complex layers of sounds from Caul's work to take the spotlight. The main theme is a simple, but flighty piano piece with just a hint of jazzy rhythm that is, in its construction, a very enjoyable albeit slightly atonal piece. But since the film has such a dark underbelly, that theme turns sour as the story transforms into a manipulative tale of counterintelligence and Caul is exploited to the point of madness. To address this side, this score was one of the earlier experiments in synthesized elements being used to augment or distort a traditional performance. For the scenes of fright, as Caul becomes nervous for the lives of those upon whom he is spying (along with the belief that he is to be their agent of doom), Shire's music was altered by Walter Murch, the film's editor, to utilize experimental electronic grinding and distortion techniques, weaving in and out of mono and stereo presentations. Since the centerpiece of the spy-like recordings in the story occurs in a crowded park, sounds of street bands and other audio artifacts were mixed brilliantly with the lonely themes for Caul, sitting far above it all. Understandably, these solitary piano solos don't work quite as well as a standalone listening experience on album. A secondary melodic idea in "Amy's Theme" extends the crisp, elegant runs of the main theme for a new identity that teases some brightness in its impressive lines but ultimately succumbs to the same rather downbeat tone as the remainder of the score.

Because of Coppola's somewhat unpredictable method of approving the music, some of the temporary mono recordings by Shire before the film was even shot were used in the final cut of the film. And with the street sounds integrated with the score so well, they could not be easily separated for an album release. In its latter half, the score also contains a significant amount of low-key pounding, rumbling, and general droning on the piano, representing the frantic pace at which the jazzy mystique is lost. Only in the final cue does Shire's piano provide an echo of the Caul character's sanity that existed in the first six or so major cues. Source music for a clubby jazz band offers a few momentary breaks from the solace. The 2001 debut album for The Conversation was the second in the eventually lengthy series of "Special Collection" releases from Intrada Records. It had been a frequently requested score on CD for many years. Its incredible use in the film proves that minimalism can indeed work to perfection, and because the film is studied by students across the globe, the score was naturally in demand. To listen to the album in its entirety, though, is difficult, because without knowing the immediate context of the visuals on screen, the lesser-engaging sequences of Shire's performances are indistinguishable from the distorting sound effects. Ironically, the best cue on the album is one that was never used in the film. Shire recorded his title theme with a small ensemble to give it a fuller personality, and that final track on the album is not surprisingly the highlight. The same presentation was released digitally by Silva Screen in 2023, the Intrada CD having long gone out of print. You simply must have an appreciation for this movie to be able to enjoy this score, and even if you are an enormous fan it, only ten minutes or so of the score is all that is required on album. Nevertheless, it is still an important work, not only in its relation to the fine production as a whole, but also in that it led to countless other assignments for its obviously talented composer.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

All Albums:
Total Time: 37:22

• 1. Theme from The Conversation (3:30) • 2. The End of the Day (1:36) • 3. No More Questions/Phoning the Director (2:16) • 4. Blues for Harry (Combo) (2:38) • 5. To the Office/The Elevator (2:37) • 6. Whatever Was Arranged (2:06) • 7. The Confessional (2:18)

• 8. Amy's Theme (2:48) • 9. Dream Sequence (2:32) • 10. Plumbing Problem (2:51) • 11. Harry Carried (2:44) • 12. The Girl in the Limo (2:23) • 13. Finale and End Credits (3:52) • 14. Theme From The Conversation (Ensemble) (2:27)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert of the 2001 Intrada album contains extensive notes from the director, editor, and composer. There exists no official packaging for the digital 2023 Silva Screen re-issue. An excerpt from Francis Ford Coppola's note in the 2001 album is as follows:

"The Conversation falls in the category of a 'personal film'. This was the holy grail for film students, the notion that one could write and ultimately make a personal film rather than a Hollywood or industry film. Even then, over 25 years ago, the distinction was clear: A personal film could be about something that meant something to you; that did not depend on big stars and tremendous action sequences, but was more introspective, more evocative; it was about things you had feelings for. The Conversation was a script I worked on for several years. I wanted to make it my first for American Zoetrope, our new independent film company.

Ironically but not surprisingly, it took The Godfather to get The Conversation made. The Conversation was only made at all as an inducement to make a 2nd Godfather film. The script was really inspired by Michangelo Antonioni's Blow Up, conceived as a thriller to have some small commercial appeal, but designed to explore an inner, lonely part of myself. For all these reasons, I stressed to David Shire that I did not want a large orchestral ensemble, but something simple, haunting and lonely as I imagined Harry Caul was himself.

David, of course, had the equipment to write and orchestrate a film score as good and big as any composer, so I worked with him almost as an actor, to move him to try something daringly simple, that did not show off all his great talents and abilities. Eventually I thought that a single voice would be the most appropriate solution for what I had in mind‹a single piano, recorded with the greatest simplicity; something that had a slight jazz figure to it, as Harry was a frustrated jazz 'wanna-be' ‹but to avoid the obvious, like using a sax or trumpet.

Of course David couldn't believe that this wasn't just a first step and that later we'd surely orchestrate it, bring in strings, show off a little. But the first sketches David played were so effective, capturing the mood of the story so well, that I resisted further decoration. I think of David Shire's score for The Conversation as one of the most effective, most successful film scores that I've had."

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Conversation are Copyright © 2001, 2023, Intrada Records, Silva Screen Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/27/01 and last updated 4/24/23.