How Michelangelo Antonioni inspired Francis Ford Coppola movie ‘The Conversation’
Regarded as one of the most important figures in the New Hollywood Movement, Francis Ford Coppola changed American cinema forever. Although The Godfather series and Apocalypse Now are the masterpieces that are the most discussed by film fans, Coppola has made multiple gems throughout his tenure as one of the most revered filmmakers in the world.
One essential Coppola work that doesn’t get mentioned enough is The Conversation, among the greatest thrillers ever made. Starring Gene Hackman, the 1974 film revolves around a paranoid surveillance expert who uncovers a murder plot on an assignment. A prescient commentary on the anxiety, violence and paranoia of the information age, The Conversation is undoubtedly one of Coppola’s most significant technical achievements.
While The Conversation was a culmination of a lot of influences, Coppola was particularly intrigued by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup. A landmark cinematic masterpiece of the 1960s, Blowup also examined atmospheric paranoia through the story of a photographer who mistakenly captures evidence of a murder and is sucked into an ominous plot. During a conversation with GQ, Coppola revealed how Antonioni inspired him.
The director recalled: “I had loved the movie of Antonioni – Blowup. I just thought, ‘I wanna make a movie like that. That’s the kind of movie I wanna make.’ Because it was intriguing, and it was moving, and it was mysterious. And I was talking to a wonderful filmmaker named Irvin Kershner about that. And I said, ‘I wonder if nowadays they can eavesdrop on you with these shotgun microphones where they can bounce light off the window pane, and they can figure out what’s being said inside.’ He said, ‘Yeah, that’s true.’ So I began to learn that.”
While talking about the central narrative undercurrents of The Conversation, Coppola also spoke about the recurring thematic elements in the film. The filmmaker elaborated: “I was also interested in this idea… a movie in which repetition was an element. In other words, the same thing was being said over and over, but every time you heard it, it meant something a little different. And I was interested in experimenting with that.”
Coppola saw Blowup a couple of years before The Conversation, and Antonioni’s construction of a system with multiple registers of reality remained embedded in his mind. With each passing year, The Conversation becomes increasingly relevant as surveillance technology keeps improving in the most nefarious ways.
Currently, Coppola is looking to add the most ambitious project of all time to his legacy – Megalopolis. Starring the likes of Adam Driver, the production wrapped up filming earlier this year and is definitely among the most anticipated releases in the near future.
Watch the interview below.
