Aside from being both funny and clever and visually inventive, it’s also an outstanding introduction to the film. Gives us a significant amount of key information in an astonishingly short period of time. And even more importantly, sets the tone for what is to follow. (What follows, incidentally, is a lot of fun. I should watch it again, just to remind myself that the film doesn’t really drop off as much from the astonishing quality of its titles as one as Title-Obsessed as myself might suspect.)

This isn’t just FFC’s best film, though. It’s also Gene Hackman’s best film. His performance as Harry Caul is subtle, subdued, and excruciatingly painful.