The Auditory Gaze in Coppola's The Conversation

         

            The voyeurism of film and its many different gazes are often associated with the visual but there is also the auditory gaze. Cinema is the combination of the visual and audio. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA) builds tension by revealing parts of a recorded conversation throughout the film mostly when the protagonist Harry Caul works on the tape of the recording. Harry Caul is considered the best wire tapper but he fears people might be hurt because of his work. For this analysis I screened the Blu –ray edition of The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA). The intended aspect ratio is 1.85:1 and shot on 35 mm film. The Blu- ray has been digitally re-mastered and presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

            On the Blu-Ray of The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA) scene 6 titled He’d Kill Us If He Got The Chance displays using a piece of audio to build tension. The titular conversation that is the basis for the films mystery is captured in the film’s opening scene. Later on in Harry’s workshop “the conversation” that has been dubbed onto reel to reel tape and is being played and replayed as Harry tries to make previously inaudible sections now audible. The mystery has started to grab hold of Harry despite his adamant protests to the contrary. The watcher can see how curios and manic Harry is becoming.  

            The sound editor Walter Murch and the score by David Shire play a large role in creating the mood of the film and give insight into the psyche of Harry Caul. The Blu-Ray uses the original theatrical mono mix. One of the most significant choices that highlight how this particular scene highlights the auditory gaze is the use of sound board mixing with both the score and the replaying of “the conversation”. During the editing process a full sound board was used to alter both the score and the recorded conversation. As slight but consistent alterations are made to the soundscape as the film progresses the audience is left wondering how accurate their recollection is? As harry becomes more paranoid the score becomes more electronic. When Harry is replaying the conversation over and over again trying to reveal the inaudible portions the slight differences in the playback due to alterations made on the soundboard makes the audience question themselves similar to how conflicted Harry Caul is with his job. His worry that his work could lead to a murder is growing. Even something like faith that gives many practitioners solace creates even more conflict in Harry Caul’s psyche.

            This scene is notable for Gene Hackman acting with the late John Cazale. Their dynamic in this scene shows how two different people can react to the same piece of audio. Jon Cazale’s portrayal of Stan is the audiences POV character. He says what everyone’s thinking in many ways he is giving voice to the actions of Gene Hackman’s Harry Caul who refuses to admit to his growing obsession with the piece of audio in his possession. Harry claims to be only interested in the work and fetishizing the technical aspects of his career but as we see in the juxtaposition to Stan’s questions and statements he is on his way down the rabbit hole to see how far it goes.

            The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA) is about technology and privacy. In this particular scene technology, time, or physical distance can’t separate Harry from his guilt and paranoia. Harry Caul is replaying a scene over and over again and just like memories the scene is slightly different every time he plays it. We may think of video or audio recordings as concrete recreations of life but The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA) through the auditory gaze shows recordings can be just as ephemeral as memory. 

           

 

Pop Culture in La Dolce Vita: A low brow examination of a high browfilm (A critique)

           Part of films ephemeral quality is that its meaning changes with the each observer and as that individual observer changes, evolves, age, their interpretation of the art may also change. Pop culture and meta references in La Dolce Vita (1960) get lost among the over reading and analysis as a piece of art. La Dolce Vita (1960) is one of the most important films by one of the most important directors (I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure I stole that from the back of the Criterion Collection box) so the academic and critical analysis of the film is certainly warranted and I will in no way try to argue against that. Yes La Dolce Vita (1960) is high art but let’s not be so precious that we don’t take notice that Nico having a cameo as Nico is completely pop and delightful. Nico rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar during the 1960s. Contemporary audiences due to time, place, and other factors that add context may miss some of the references, tips of the cap, and winks at the camera a 1960 audience would of immediately caught.

          The casting of Lex Barker as Sylvia’s drunken fiancé in La Dolce Vita (1960) is superb. He is a caricature yet utterly believable as the drunken American oaf. A difference in a 2015 screening from a 1960 screening of the film is many contemporary viewers will not remember Lex Barker as the matinee idol who played Tarzan five times. A contemporary example would be to have Chris Hemsworth the actor who portrays the Norse god Thor in the cinematic adaptation of the Marvel universe. To a certain demographic of the audience in 1960 they would immediately recognize their favorite loincloth wearing, vine swinging, king of the jungle, Tarzan starring in one of the film’s vignettes. The casting of this role is one of many examples of the merger of pop culture, high art, and craftsmanship that permeate La Dolce Vita (1960).

          Nino Rota scored many of Fellini’s films and was a long time collaborator. Nino Rota is also noted for scoring The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). Nino Rota will forever be immortalized as the composer of The Godfather Waltz. La Dolce Vita (1960) has Rota and Fellini collaborating again. Rota’s score can be heard in the opening and conclusion of the film but the majority of the film uses a pop music soundtrack. The song Patricia by Perez Prado is featured prominently in the film. Billboard ranked Patricia as the #5 song of 1958 and it hit #1 on the billboard charts that same year. Patricia continues to be part of the zeitgeist being used in shows like The Simpsons and HBO’s Real Sex. A contemporary audience may hear Patricia and think it’s ironic, whimsical, or nostalgic. In 1960 this soundtrack was the height of pop culture. At the end of the film as in the beginning the pop soundtrack is replaced by the score. During the string of decedent evenings a fun pop soundtrack is used in the film allowing the viewer to get lost in the charisma of the actors but once the score replaces the soundtrack the viewer knows the dream the party and or dream are over. The pop soundtrack ends just as Marcello’s ambition to be a serious writer ends and Rota’s score begins again book ending the film.

          La Dolce Vita (1960) lampoons the vapid drunken nights of café culture in Rome yet it can’t help being immersed and celebrating what it’s deriding. It’s like stockbrokers who love to watch Wall Street (1987) or criminals who glorify Scarface (1983). All three afore mentioned films are completely self aware that what they are showing you is nothing to be emulated, yet all three are films whose heightened stylized worlds are something audiences fall in love with and glorify. Fellini tells you it’s an empty life yet audiences can’t help but be enraptured by celebrity, sex, fancy clothes, and all the trapping of modern café culture in Rome. Sylvia’s character is a metaphor for the themes of the film. She is shallow and impetuous but she is so sexy you understand why everyone puts up with her nonsense. Fellini represents café culture the same way. It’s vapid and meaningless yet it’s so sexy and decedent it’s hard to resist.

          Nico was a model, anti-Semite, actress, and musician most famous for her collaborations with Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground. In La Dolce Vita (1960) Nico has a cameo playing herself. Fellini was not only the film’s director but also co-writer and created the part specifically for her. Marcello is a gossip journalist in a chic European city why wouldn’t he know Nico? But isn’t Nico a real person and the movie a work of fiction? This is another example of Fellini using pop culture to create his universe. If Nico is a real person and if she appears in the movie does that make the movie real life or make real life a movie? Something seemingly innocuous like a cameo of a pop star suddenly adds to the surreal quality of the seemingly endless string of decedent evenings followed by repentant dawns.  

          Fellini is one of cinema’s most acclaimed directors. When discussing the great auteur directors Fellini’s name is always mentioned. La Dolce Vita (1960) is such a dense film it can literally be broken down frame by frame and I’m sure it has been by scholars and critics alike. La Dolce Vita (1960) seamlessly synthesizes pop culture in a manner not many films that are considered high art have accomplished. Fellini’s use of pop culture doesn’t diminish his art he uses it to enhance his art. For me this hits a real nostalgic sweet spot. I first began to appreciate film not just as escapism but as an art form during the rise of American independent film during the early to mid 1990’s. Many of the writer directors of that era most notably Quentin Tarantino create a heightened  stylized world peppered with pop culture references to ground their fictionalized universes in realism. It creates a soft focus reflection of our own world where the women are prettier, the dialogue is slicker, and the life is sweeter. 

 By
J. Scott Cohen