The Conversation - Sound and Surveillance

I often teach Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974) for my Introduction to Film and Film Theory courses.

 
The Conversation exemplifies the art and theory of sound in cinema, especially the opening long take zoom shot in Union Square in San Francisco.

 

A topic we often discuss is the film's exploration of surveillance. Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is the best of the best when it comes to secretly recording or "bugging" conversations. During a small party in Harry's studio, we learn from his friend, Bernie (Allen Garfield), that Harry is known in New York for the "welfare fund 68" job, where he secretly recorded a conversation having to do with a bogus fund run by the teamster's president. Bernie asks Harry how he secretly tapped the teamster's president and his accountant--a conversation that occurred on a boat. Of course, Harry does not share his technique. But we do learn that three people were killed because of the conversation Harry had recorded.

Little does Harry know that Bernie has planted a pen mike and transmitter on him.

When Bernie reveals that he had been recording Harry during the party, he becomes enraged and kicks Bernie and his friends out of his studio. As we learn, Harry is a lonely and private person. Harry's motto is that he does not emotionally get involved with the subjects he records. Harry is not curious about what's being said. Rather, it is about getting the best sound that matters to Harry.

A question I asked my students: does Bernie's pen mike speak more to our current times in terms of big data and surveillance? Here, it is worth noting Mark Andrejevic's article, "The Twenty-First Century Telescreen." The telescreen is from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The telescreen is a television that watches you. 

One of the concerns with digital televisions, especially internet ready digital televisions, is surveillance. Could these screens watch us? Andrejevic claims that it is a misnomer that digital television is a telescreen. Andrejevic argues that digital television is surveillance with a commercial fare. Whereas the telescreen makes one aware that they are being watched, Andrejevic suggests that the future of digital television is collecting data on our viewing behaviors which can impact how content is curated to us. 

Although Bernie's pen mike and transmitter is not a screen, it does demonstrate how a pervasive object such as a pen can potentially be used to monitor us (not unlike how companies can track our purchasing behaviors online). This is a different type of surveillance - an apparatus that does not make one aware that they are constantly being watched, which brings me to the film's shocking twist at the end.

At the end of the film, we learn that Harry misunderstood his recording of Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann's (Cindy Williams) conversation, specifically when Mark says: "He'd kill if he got the chance." Harry believes that Ann and Mark were in danger, but in fact they were planning to kill Ann's husband (the Director played Robert Duvall), the man who hired Harry to bug Ann and Mark.

The film's final scene shows Harry playing his saxophone in his apartment. He receives a call from the Director's assistant, Martin (Harrison Ford), who tells Harry that: "we'll be listening." Martin plays back a recording of Harry playing his saxophone. Of course, Harry is shocked to learn that he has been secretly bugged (again). Harry rips his apartment apart looking for the bug, which he never finds.

The question I asked my students: Is Harry upset because his privacy is now under threat? Or, is Harry upset because he has been out-bugged?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I frequently screen Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) for my film courses. The topic we often discuss is the film's relationship between new media and memory. Although the film came out in 2004, I think it still offers some insights into concerns of privacy and big data. 

A topic that I brought up with my students this past semester is the character of Patrick played Elijah Wood. To be short, the film is a science fiction love story that entails a recently separated couple Joel (Jim Carrey) and his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) who erase their memories of each other by a company called Lacuna.  

Patrick works for Lacuna. While Patrick assisted Stan (Mark Ruffalo) with Clementine's procedure, he became attracted to her.  As a way to court Clementine, Patrick steals Joel's memory objects from Lacuna's office. 

Patrick stealing Joel's memory objects certainly addresses concerns of database breach. But Patrick's mining of Joel's memories is also similar to how digital algorithms can map and predict our shopping behaviors. In one scene, Patrick gives Clementine a gift which he stole from Joel's bag of memory objects of Clementine. Of course, Clementine is taken aback by the gift. Patrick seems to know exactly what she likes, even though they have only been seeing each other for a very short period of time.

Perhaps the most significant scene is when Patrick and Clementine are on the frozen lake. He recites some of Joel's memories about her.  Like the binary code of digital, Patrick is too perfect. And it is exactly this moment that Clementine loses her desire for Patrick.