Although winning the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and being nominated for 3 Academy Awards, Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation was somewhat overshadowed by the director's other release that year - The Godfather Part II. However, The Conversation has endured as a bona fide classic and one of the best American films ever made. What's more, Coppola's slow burning thriller about a surveillance expert (Gene Hackman, giving one of his finest performances) who realises that his recordings may have murderous consequences, is even more relevant today as CCTV surveillance and internet privacy are once again causing considerable concern the world over. For students of English the film of particular interest as it highlights the importance of intonation. The film's mystery hinges on one line of recorded dialogue - and where the stress falls in the sentence. He'd kill us if he got the chance turns out to be very different from He'd kill usif he got the chance as the lead character finds out too late.
I am a freelance teacher based at the British Council in Rome. This is a Blog for my students, not only to keep up with what we are doing in class but also to ask questions, share ideas and practise English.
