Regularly included in Sight and Sound's 100 greatest films of all time, The Conversation is Francis Ford Coppola’s Palme d’Or-winning surveillance thriller, a film that continues to grow in relevance and stature. Gene Hackman has rarely been better than he is in this conspiracy thriller, playing surveillance expert Harry Caul. A solitary, intensely private individual, Harry strives for an ethical approach to his work, even as he struggles with pangs of guilt for his past mistakes. His obsession with latest job – he believes he may have discovered a murder plot – makes him increasingly paranoid. Coppola wrings every last drop of tension from his lean screenplay while an impressive supporting cast and David Shire’s celebrated score contribute to a sense of unease. Released at the height of the Watergate Scandal in the US, the film now feels prophetic in its portrait of an all-pervasive surveillance culture.

Over 20 years later Tony Scott directed Enemy of the State, a turn of the millennium update on surveillance thrillers with Gene Hackman playing a paranoid recluse very reminiscent of The Conversation's Henry Caul. We are hosting a screening of this one week later on 5th June, find out more here - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/star-and-shadow-cinema/t-xmgjmod