The Lack of Certainty: Cinematic Techniques and the Portrayal of Harry Caul Misha Lubich College

When one thinks of a famous, all-hailed, top surveyor in the nation, one may think of a reserved, ordered and, most importantly, an incredibly fulfilled individual. After all, to attain a similar status in not only the surveillance field but in any field, one must be patient, calculated and extremely passionate about his or her work. In the dramatic, film noir-esque motion picture, The Conversation, Harry Caul epitomizes the tragic reality of a surveyor. Inspired by a real surveyor, Martin Kaiser, the thriller channels what cannot be expressed in words, creating a throbbing suspense centered around one of people’s greatest fears — uncertainty in who they are. The film carries a deeper message than many critics who pointed to the film’s warnings of the development of surveying technology and its infractions of not only privacy but also the ethics it concerns individuals. Not only does the dilemma drive the film’s frames but it also persists, shadowing over the film with unresolved tension. Because the dilemma remains unsolved, the film resolution of the tension lies in not in the beginning or middle but at the film’s end: the final sequence of frames as Harry searches his home for a concealed recording device and, in utter...