When he wakes, it's to discover that she has taken her own advice and stolen the tapes. Coppola, who wrote and directed, considers this film his most personal project. He was working two years after the Watergate break-in, amid the ruins of the Vietnam effort, telling the story of a man who places too much reliance on high technology and has nightmares about his personal responsibility. The movie works on that moral level, and also as a taut, intelligent thriller. It opens with a virtuoso telephoto shot, showing a San Francisco plaza filled with people.
Faraway music mixes with electronic sounds.
There is a slow zoom in to the back of Caul's head, and then the camera follows him. One of Harry's crosses is that Stan is irreverent about their work, which to Harry is a sacred calling. It becomes clear that Ann, the young woman, is the director's wife, and Mark, the young man, is her lover. Harry is impatient with Stan, impatient with everyone. At home, he's shocked to find that his landlord entered his apartment, knows it is his birthday, and knows how old he is.