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I was considering writing a review about this film but there's really far too much to say about the film, preventing it from being condensed into a satisfying review.
There has never been a better time to buy this film because it's just been released as part of a box set in which you get "the French Connection" itself, a bonus disc and "the French Connection II" ("the only film that could follow the french Connection" as the trailer somewhat obviously stated) - all this for somewhere in the region of £22. But why should you buy it?
Let's go back to the 1971 Oscars..
The French Connection has been nominated for 8 academy awards. That's no mean feat and this year the competition is strong. First off you have Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange": an adventurous, subversive and controversial film that has only just seen the light of day again in this country where it was banned. Next up you have Peter Bogdanovich's "Last Picture Show": an all-American image-laden masterpiece which presented America's plight in the microcosm of a small Texan town. Thirdly "Fiddler on the Roof" makes an appearence falling into the epic-musical category of kitsch Oscar-fodder films. Then you have "the French Connection" a detective story shot in a distinctly European way by a former documentary maker.
Not only did this film beat the others to "Best Picture" but it also sweeped up "Best actor" for Gene Hackman, "Best Director" for William Friedkin, "Best film Editing" and "Best Screenplay", making it the runaway film at that year's Oscars.
When we come back to today "Clockwork Orange" seems hopelessly dated, "The Last Picture Show" overly pretentious and "Fiddler on the Roof", well the less said the better. However, "the French Connection" remains every bit the film it was then - thrilling, shocking and gripping. So already the hallmarks of a classic film are beginning to unfold. The film is timeless so don't let the fact that it was made in 1971 act as any type of disincentive towards buying it.
So what's the story? Take two NYC cops: Popeye and Cloudy add a chance encounter with a nefarious low life and a bit of detective zeal and the answer you end up with is the start to the tale of the biggest drugs bust in American history. First things first, it's actually based on a true story, which seems more and more remarkable as episodes unfold. We see Hackman on Oscar-winning form as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle and Roy 'Jaws' Scheider as his partner Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo, as they bug, tail, car-chase and fight their way through the film. It's a nice gesture that their real life counterparts, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso take roles especially when Egan mocks his own character by asking "are you still Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie Popeye?". Condensed the plot is essentially a traditional American detective story. However, Friedkin turns it in to such a multi-layered experience that the film's show stealing performance at the Oscars was entirely justified.
The fact that any film was made at all is amazing. Sight and Sound editor, Mark Kermode's documentary on the bonus disc reveals what a calamity the film could have been. Firstly Friedkin did not get on at all well with his leadman Hackman, thinking he was boring and entirely unsuited to the role. Hackman himslef found Friedkin so annoying that he often refused to come out of his trailer. Add to this the incompetent casting director who had been told by Friedkin to find an actor from "La Belle de Jour" to play the French connection himself and ended up hiring a Spaniard, Fernando Rey, who spoke next to no French. During filming New York was in the midst of the coldest winter on record and filming for any length of time was nigh on impossible. To top it all offthe studio were getting so worried about the dailies being sent to them from the set that they considered pulling the film, thinking it was going to flop.
Amazingly from this carnage Friedkin crafted the best film of 1971. The antagonism between himself and Hackman only adds to Hackman's unhinged performace and probably pushed it from Oscar-nominated into Oscar-winning acting. Notably Roy Scheider, who had been on good terms with Friedkin, lost out in the "Best Supporting Actor" category to Ben Johnson. As for Friedkin's directing itself, it is nothing short of brilliant. He tries to create the feeling of a documentary, which for a former documentary maker isn't too hard. This is mainly done by having shoulder-mounted cameras with minimal cuts, giving you the feeling of watching a news report. Indeed in the film's final climatic scene, shot in a warren of claustrophobic, dilapidated rooms, Friedkin simply sent out a few cameramen without directions and told them to wonder the corridors while Hackman and co stalked about. All this makes the film a more involving experience. It's all good and well to watch "the Fast and the Furious" with all it's jump-cuttery and so on, but do you actually feel part of it?
Oops, I just mentioned a car chase film... Funny that, since "the French Connection" has THE best car-chase ever. In fact its car chse will never be bettered, mainly because it's real and nowadays you would not be able to get away with filming a real car chase. I keep saying car-chase but it's actually a train chase, as Hackman pursues a train by road, which is just another twist to the previously conventional, hackneyed car chase genre. Friedkin took a stunt driver out into Brooklyn's streets and filmed him as he hurtled down roads with the accelerator pshed to the floor. When you see a car skid to get out the way that's because a real-life person has just seen a maniac hurtling head on at them along a real-life road. Dangerous it may have been but nothing will ever approach it again. There's nothing quite like it.
Here you can see that the film works on different levels. It is on base level and action film, stepping up: a psychological thriller, and after the enigmatic ending it transcends genres in the way that so few films do. Best of all you can watch it on whatever level you choose and in all cases its genuinely chilling ending will leave you thinking about long after the disc is nestled back in its box.
It isn't any wonder that this film started the careers of some of Hollywood's best-known actors, producers and director, the experience they create is electrifying. Friedkin went on to direct "The Exorcist", Hackman won another Oscar for his role in "Mississippi Burning", Scheider starred in "Jaws" and received another Oscar nomination and a plethora of other talents were set on their way to stardom. "The French Connection" rules in so many ways that it will effortlessly become one of the best films in your collection if you do buy it. If you want any proof of this then watch Frankenheimer's sequel (which comes in the box set) straight afterwards, which descends to the level of an extra in the still-remembered force of the original. The sequel isn't bad and Hackman's portrayal of a junkie going through cold turkey is stunning but when put next to the original it only accentuates how brilliant the latter was and is and ever shall be.
In short, "The French Connection" rocks, so buy it now.
There has never been a better time to buy this film because it's just been released as part of a box set in which you get "the French Connection" itself, a bonus disc and "the French Connection II" ("the only film that could follow the french Connection" as the trailer somewhat obviously stated) - all this for somewhere in the region of £22. But why should you buy it?
Let's go back to the 1971 Oscars..
The French Connection has been nominated for 8 academy awards. That's no mean feat and this year the competition is strong. First off you have Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange": an adventurous, subversive and controversial film that has only just seen the light of day again in this country where it was banned. Next up you have Peter Bogdanovich's "Last Picture Show": an all-American image-laden masterpiece which presented America's plight in the microcosm of a small Texan town. Thirdly "Fiddler on the Roof" makes an appearence falling into the epic-musical category of kitsch Oscar-fodder films. Then you have "the French Connection" a detective story shot in a distinctly European way by a former documentary maker.
Not only did this film beat the others to "Best Picture" but it also sweeped up "Best actor" for Gene Hackman, "Best Director" for William Friedkin, "Best film Editing" and "Best Screenplay", making it the runaway film at that year's Oscars.
When we come back to today "Clockwork Orange" seems hopelessly dated, "The Last Picture Show" overly pretentious and "Fiddler on the Roof", well the less said the better. However, "the French Connection" remains every bit the film it was then - thrilling, shocking and gripping. So already the hallmarks of a classic film are beginning to unfold. The film is timeless so don't let the fact that it was made in 1971 act as any type of disincentive towards buying it.
So what's the story? Take two NYC cops: Popeye and Cloudy add a chance encounter with a nefarious low life and a bit of detective zeal and the answer you end up with is the start to the tale of the biggest drugs bust in American history. First things first, it's actually based on a true story, which seems more and more remarkable as episodes unfold. We see Hackman on Oscar-winning form as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle and Roy 'Jaws' Scheider as his partner Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo, as they bug, tail, car-chase and fight their way through the film. It's a nice gesture that their real life counterparts, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso take roles especially when Egan mocks his own character by asking "are you still Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie Popeye?". Condensed the plot is essentially a traditional American detective story. However, Friedkin turns it in to such a multi-layered experience that the film's show stealing performance at the Oscars was entirely justified.
The fact that any film was made at all is amazing. Sight and Sound editor, Mark Kermode's documentary on the bonus disc reveals what a calamity the film could have been. Firstly Friedkin did not get on at all well with his leadman Hackman, thinking he was boring and entirely unsuited to the role. Hackman himslef found Friedkin so annoying that he often refused to come out of his trailer. Add to this the incompetent casting director who had been told by Friedkin to find an actor from "La Belle de Jour" to play the French connection himself and ended up hiring a Spaniard, Fernando Rey, who spoke next to no French. During filming New York was in the midst of the coldest winter on record and filming for any length of time was nigh on impossible. To top it all offthe studio were getting so worried about the dailies being sent to them from the set that they considered pulling the film, thinking it was going to flop.
Amazingly from this carnage Friedkin crafted the best film of 1971. The antagonism between himself and Hackman only adds to Hackman's unhinged performace and probably pushed it from Oscar-nominated into Oscar-winning acting. Notably Roy Scheider, who had been on good terms with Friedkin, lost out in the "Best Supporting Actor" category to Ben Johnson. As for Friedkin's directing itself, it is nothing short of brilliant. He tries to create the feeling of a documentary, which for a former documentary maker isn't too hard. This is mainly done by having shoulder-mounted cameras with minimal cuts, giving you the feeling of watching a news report. Indeed in the film's final climatic scene, shot in a warren of claustrophobic, dilapidated rooms, Friedkin simply sent out a few cameramen without directions and told them to wonder the corridors while Hackman and co stalked about. All this makes the film a more involving experience. It's all good and well to watch "the Fast and the Furious" with all it's jump-cuttery and so on, but do you actually feel part of it?
Oops, I just mentioned a car chase film... Funny that, since "the French Connection" has THE best car-chase ever. In fact its car chse will never be bettered, mainly because it's real and nowadays you would not be able to get away with filming a real car chase. I keep saying car-chase but it's actually a train chase, as Hackman pursues a train by road, which is just another twist to the previously conventional, hackneyed car chase genre. Friedkin took a stunt driver out into Brooklyn's streets and filmed him as he hurtled down roads with the accelerator pshed to the floor. When you see a car skid to get out the way that's because a real-life person has just seen a maniac hurtling head on at them along a real-life road. Dangerous it may have been but nothing will ever approach it again. There's nothing quite like it.
Here you can see that the film works on different levels. It is on base level and action film, stepping up: a psychological thriller, and after the enigmatic ending it transcends genres in the way that so few films do. Best of all you can watch it on whatever level you choose and in all cases its genuinely chilling ending will leave you thinking about long after the disc is nestled back in its box.
It isn't any wonder that this film started the careers of some of Hollywood's best-known actors, producers and director, the experience they create is electrifying. Friedkin went on to direct "The Exorcist", Hackman won another Oscar for his role in "Mississippi Burning", Scheider starred in "Jaws" and received another Oscar nomination and a plethora of other talents were set on their way to stardom. "The French Connection" rules in so many ways that it will effortlessly become one of the best films in your collection if you do buy it. If you want any proof of this then watch Frankenheimer's sequel (which comes in the box set) straight afterwards, which descends to the level of an extra in the still-remembered force of the original. The sequel isn't bad and Hackman's portrayal of a junkie going through cold turkey is stunning but when put next to the original it only accentuates how brilliant the latter was and is and ever shall be.
In short, "The French Connection" rocks, so buy it now.
Mr. Happy wrote:
> you cannot
> deny the brilliantness of the car chase and the subway tailing sequence.
--
One word. Ronin. Beats any car chase FC can throw at me. C'mon, Ronin cannot be beaten on the car chase front.
I(If you say LA
> Confidential is better I'd say that was more a film noir than a cop film - and
> the Coen brothers make superlative film noirs, which is why everyone should like
> them.)
--
I think LA Confidential IS a cop film. It's got all the ingredients. OK, it has film noir qualities, but at the end of the day it's about three cops and their struggle with crime. It rules FC, anyday. Gene Hackman may be a good actor, but he does NOT rival Kevin Spacey. Or even Mike. Sorry, Guy Pearce. The Man.
> you cannot
> deny the brilliantness of the car chase and the subway tailing sequence.
--
One word. Ronin. Beats any car chase FC can throw at me. C'mon, Ronin cannot be beaten on the car chase front.
I(If you say LA
> Confidential is better I'd say that was more a film noir than a cop film - and
> the Coen brothers make superlative film noirs, which is why everyone should like
> them.)
--
I think LA Confidential IS a cop film. It's got all the ingredients. OK, it has film noir qualities, but at the end of the day it's about three cops and their struggle with crime. It rules FC, anyday. Gene Hackman may be a good actor, but he does NOT rival Kevin Spacey. Or even Mike. Sorry, Guy Pearce. The Man.
FC may not have Pixies in it but it rocks and even if you dislike it you cannot deny the brilliantness of the car chase and the subway tailing sequence.
I don't think you can call it an average cop film because it works on many different levels and emulates European films rather than being just another American cop movie. at the end of the day the French Connection owns all other cop films and it has yet to be bettered within that genre. (If you say LA Confidential is bette I'd say that was more a film noir than a cop film - and the Coen brothers make superlative film noirs, which is why everyone should like them.)
I don't think you can call it an average cop film because it works on many different levels and emulates European films rather than being just another American cop movie. at the end of the day the French Connection owns all other cop films and it has yet to be bettered within that genre. (If you say LA Confidential is bette I'd say that was more a film noir than a cop film - and the Coen brothers make superlative film noirs, which is why everyone should like them.)
Heh, I'm really going against your film tastes this week, Happy. Not only do I dislike the Coen Brothers, but I regard this film as....average. It's OK, really, but by now I feel it is becoming a bit dated. More than quite a bit, really. I remember watching it for the first ever time and feeling slightly excited. Now even that has gone, and it's just another 70s cop film. They made so many.
Sorry 'bout that. Be Happy.
Sorry 'bout that. Be Happy.
Don't trust Grix's Brain, he obviously has no taste in films, no matter how frugal he might be, if he's telling you not to buy it...
The box set is well worth having. Not only do you get the original film but you also get two commentaries one by Friedkin and one by Hackman and Scheider, and on FC2 you get 2 again; Frankenheimer and Hackman. There somewhere in the middle of the extras chart. Moving into the top 3 you have deleted scenes with a commentary, which rule and were mostly left out due to pacing reasons rather than through being bad.
Then you have 2 documentaries, which rock. KErmode's is the best because it's not a promotional documentary at all. It does have clips from the film but they're used sensibly for once to compliment the narrative of the documentary rather than just acting as filler. And best of all Kermode's edited it very subtlely so he highlights all of the contradictions between interviewees without actually pointing them out. For instance you have varying accounts of the extenet to which Earnest Tidyman wrote the script, with Friedkin trying to claim absolute responsibility for the final version and saying Tidyman's version was completely changed by him. Then you have Hackman recounting a pre-production lunch with Friedkin and saying how pleasant Friedkin had been and what charming conversation had taken place then cut to Friedkin who labels Hackman a bore from the first time they had lunch. It's very well made and actually informs you rather than convincing you to buy the film.
You also get FC2 which isn't bad. In fact some critics, namely the ones who enjoying knocking popular things, prefer it to the original saying that it analyses Popeye's character better. unfortunately it's not based on a real story and it tries to copy Friedkin's style but fails miserably. Frankenheimer will do the documentary thing for a bit than have a flurry of cuts that make you realise it's not a documentary at all. And the ending.. The ending.. it is woeful. It wants to be as dramatic as its predecessors; it wants to be as sudden and thought-provoking but it isn't at all.
Having said that the film isn't bad. Hackman is in good form again and there's more explosions and fighting. Perhaps I didn't like it because it makes Popeye look foolish whereas in Friedkin's he's cool but there is a very subtle defamation of his character. Friedkin softly hints at things while Frankenheimer whispers them in a very loud voice so everyone can hear. And that's the difference between the two films.
And the second one doesn't have a rocking car-chase but it does have a good chase right at the end..
The box set is well worth having. Not only do you get the original film but you also get two commentaries one by Friedkin and one by Hackman and Scheider, and on FC2 you get 2 again; Frankenheimer and Hackman. There somewhere in the middle of the extras chart. Moving into the top 3 you have deleted scenes with a commentary, which rule and were mostly left out due to pacing reasons rather than through being bad.
Then you have 2 documentaries, which rock. KErmode's is the best because it's not a promotional documentary at all. It does have clips from the film but they're used sensibly for once to compliment the narrative of the documentary rather than just acting as filler. And best of all Kermode's edited it very subtlely so he highlights all of the contradictions between interviewees without actually pointing them out. For instance you have varying accounts of the extenet to which Earnest Tidyman wrote the script, with Friedkin trying to claim absolute responsibility for the final version and saying Tidyman's version was completely changed by him. Then you have Hackman recounting a pre-production lunch with Friedkin and saying how pleasant Friedkin had been and what charming conversation had taken place then cut to Friedkin who labels Hackman a bore from the first time they had lunch. It's very well made and actually informs you rather than convincing you to buy the film.
You also get FC2 which isn't bad. In fact some critics, namely the ones who enjoying knocking popular things, prefer it to the original saying that it analyses Popeye's character better. unfortunately it's not based on a real story and it tries to copy Friedkin's style but fails miserably. Frankenheimer will do the documentary thing for a bit than have a flurry of cuts that make you realise it's not a documentary at all. And the ending.. The ending.. it is woeful. It wants to be as dramatic as its predecessors; it wants to be as sudden and thought-provoking but it isn't at all.
Having said that the film isn't bad. Hackman is in good form again and there's more explosions and fighting. Perhaps I didn't like it because it makes Popeye look foolish whereas in Friedkin's he's cool but there is a very subtle defamation of his character. Friedkin softly hints at things while Frankenheimer whispers them in a very loud voice so everyone can hear. And that's the difference between the two films.
And the second one doesn't have a rocking car-chase but it does have a good chase right at the end..
You evil evil Happyman! I have to pull myself away from DVD sections to stop myself from buying it, and now I can't control myself as I'm buying it over the internet!!!... gahhh
I want this more than anything at the moment, but I must stop spending so much moneyyyyyyyy...
I want this more than anything at the moment, but I must stop spending so much moneyyyyyyyy...
I was considering writing a review about this film but there's really far too much to say about the film, preventing it from being condensed into a satisfying review.
There has never been a better time to buy this film because it's just been released as part of a box set in which you get "the French Connection" itself, a bonus disc and "the French Connection II" ("the only film that could follow the french Connection" as the trailer somewhat obviously stated) - all this for somewhere in the region of £22. But why should you buy it?
Let's go back to the 1971 Oscars..
The French Connection has been nominated for 8 academy awards. That's no mean feat and this year the competition is strong. First off you have Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange": an adventurous, subversive and controversial film that has only just seen the light of day again in this country where it was banned. Next up you have Peter Bogdanovich's "Last Picture Show": an all-American image-laden masterpiece which presented America's plight in the microcosm of a small Texan town. Thirdly "Fiddler on the Roof" makes an appearence falling into the epic-musical category of kitsch Oscar-fodder films. Then you have "the French Connection" a detective story shot in a distinctly European way by a former documentary maker.
Not only did this film beat the others to "Best Picture" but it also sweeped up "Best actor" for Gene Hackman, "Best Director" for William Friedkin, "Best film Editing" and "Best Screenplay", making it the runaway film at that year's Oscars.
When we come back to today "Clockwork Orange" seems hopelessly dated, "The Last Picture Show" overly pretentious and "Fiddler on the Roof", well the less said the better. However, "the French Connection" remains every bit the film it was then - thrilling, shocking and gripping. So already the hallmarks of a classic film are beginning to unfold. The film is timeless so don't let the fact that it was made in 1971 act as any type of disincentive towards buying it.
So what's the story? Take two NYC cops: Popeye and Cloudy add a chance encounter with a nefarious low life and a bit of detective zeal and the answer you end up with is the start to the tale of the biggest drugs bust in American history. First things first, it's actually based on a true story, which seems more and more remarkable as episodes unfold. We see Hackman on Oscar-winning form as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle and Roy 'Jaws' Scheider as his partner Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo, as they bug, tail, car-chase and fight their way through the film. It's a nice gesture that their real life counterparts, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso take roles especially when Egan mocks his own character by asking "are you still Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie Popeye?". Condensed the plot is essentially a traditional American detective story. However, Friedkin turns it in to such a multi-layered experience that the film's show stealing performance at the Oscars was entirely justified.
The fact that any film was made at all is amazing. Sight and Sound editor, Mark Kermode's documentary on the bonus disc reveals what a calamity the film could have been. Firstly Friedkin did not get on at all well with his leadman Hackman, thinking he was boring and entirely unsuited to the role. Hackman himslef found Friedkin so annoying that he often refused to come out of his trailer. Add to this the incompetent casting director who had been told by Friedkin to find an actor from "La Belle de Jour" to play the French connection himself and ended up hiring a Spaniard, Fernando Rey, who spoke next to no French. During filming New York was in the midst of the coldest winter on record and filming for any length of time was nigh on impossible. To top it all offthe studio were getting so worried about the dailies being sent to them from the set that they considered pulling the film, thinking it was going to flop.
Amazingly from this carnage Friedkin crafted the best film of 1971. The antagonism between himself and Hackman only adds to Hackman's unhinged performace and probably pushed it from Oscar-nominated into Oscar-winning acting. Notably Roy Scheider, who had been on good terms with Friedkin, lost out in the "Best Supporting Actor" category to Ben Johnson. As for Friedkin's directing itself, it is nothing short of brilliant. He tries to create the feeling of a documentary, which for a former documentary maker isn't too hard. This is mainly done by having shoulder-mounted cameras with minimal cuts, giving you the feeling of watching a news report. Indeed in the film's final climatic scene, shot in a warren of claustrophobic, dilapidated rooms, Friedkin simply sent out a few cameramen without directions and told them to wonder the corridors while Hackman and co stalked about. All this makes the film a more involving experience. It's all good and well to watch "the Fast and the Furious" with all it's jump-cuttery and so on, but do you actually feel part of it?
Oops, I just mentioned a car chase film... Funny that, since "the French Connection" has THE best car-chase ever. In fact its car chse will never be bettered, mainly because it's real and nowadays you would not be able to get away with filming a real car chase. I keep saying car-chase but it's actually a train chase, as Hackman pursues a train by road, which is just another twist to the previously conventional, hackneyed car chase genre. Friedkin took a stunt driver out into Brooklyn's streets and filmed him as he hurtled down roads with the accelerator pshed to the floor. When you see a car skid to get out the way that's because a real-life person has just seen a maniac hurtling head on at them along a real-life road. Dangerous it may have been but nothing will ever approach it again. There's nothing quite like it.
Here you can see that the film works on different levels. It is on base level and action film, stepping up: a psychological thriller, and after the enigmatic ending it transcends genres in the way that so few films do. Best of all you can watch it on whatever level you choose and in all cases its genuinely chilling ending will leave you thinking about long after the disc is nestled back in its box.
It isn't any wonder that this film started the careers of some of Hollywood's best-known actors, producers and director, the experience they create is electrifying. Friedkin went on to direct "The Exorcist", Hackman won another Oscar for his role in "Mississippi Burning", Scheider starred in "Jaws" and received another Oscar nomination and a plethora of other talents were set on their way to stardom. "The French Connection" rules in so many ways that it will effortlessly become one of the best films in your collection if you do buy it. If you want any proof of this then watch Frankenheimer's sequel (which comes in the box set) straight afterwards, which descends to the level of an extra in the still-remembered force of the original. The sequel isn't bad and Hackman's portrayal of a junkie going through cold turkey is stunning but when put next to the original it only accentuates how brilliant the latter was and is and ever shall be.
In short, "The French Connection" rocks, so buy it now.
There has never been a better time to buy this film because it's just been released as part of a box set in which you get "the French Connection" itself, a bonus disc and "the French Connection II" ("the only film that could follow the french Connection" as the trailer somewhat obviously stated) - all this for somewhere in the region of £22. But why should you buy it?
Let's go back to the 1971 Oscars..
The French Connection has been nominated for 8 academy awards. That's no mean feat and this year the competition is strong. First off you have Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange": an adventurous, subversive and controversial film that has only just seen the light of day again in this country where it was banned. Next up you have Peter Bogdanovich's "Last Picture Show": an all-American image-laden masterpiece which presented America's plight in the microcosm of a small Texan town. Thirdly "Fiddler on the Roof" makes an appearence falling into the epic-musical category of kitsch Oscar-fodder films. Then you have "the French Connection" a detective story shot in a distinctly European way by a former documentary maker.
Not only did this film beat the others to "Best Picture" but it also sweeped up "Best actor" for Gene Hackman, "Best Director" for William Friedkin, "Best film Editing" and "Best Screenplay", making it the runaway film at that year's Oscars.
When we come back to today "Clockwork Orange" seems hopelessly dated, "The Last Picture Show" overly pretentious and "Fiddler on the Roof", well the less said the better. However, "the French Connection" remains every bit the film it was then - thrilling, shocking and gripping. So already the hallmarks of a classic film are beginning to unfold. The film is timeless so don't let the fact that it was made in 1971 act as any type of disincentive towards buying it.
So what's the story? Take two NYC cops: Popeye and Cloudy add a chance encounter with a nefarious low life and a bit of detective zeal and the answer you end up with is the start to the tale of the biggest drugs bust in American history. First things first, it's actually based on a true story, which seems more and more remarkable as episodes unfold. We see Hackman on Oscar-winning form as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle and Roy 'Jaws' Scheider as his partner Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo, as they bug, tail, car-chase and fight their way through the film. It's a nice gesture that their real life counterparts, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso take roles especially when Egan mocks his own character by asking "are you still Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie Popeye?". Condensed the plot is essentially a traditional American detective story. However, Friedkin turns it in to such a multi-layered experience that the film's show stealing performance at the Oscars was entirely justified.
The fact that any film was made at all is amazing. Sight and Sound editor, Mark Kermode's documentary on the bonus disc reveals what a calamity the film could have been. Firstly Friedkin did not get on at all well with his leadman Hackman, thinking he was boring and entirely unsuited to the role. Hackman himslef found Friedkin so annoying that he often refused to come out of his trailer. Add to this the incompetent casting director who had been told by Friedkin to find an actor from "La Belle de Jour" to play the French connection himself and ended up hiring a Spaniard, Fernando Rey, who spoke next to no French. During filming New York was in the midst of the coldest winter on record and filming for any length of time was nigh on impossible. To top it all offthe studio were getting so worried about the dailies being sent to them from the set that they considered pulling the film, thinking it was going to flop.
Amazingly from this carnage Friedkin crafted the best film of 1971. The antagonism between himself and Hackman only adds to Hackman's unhinged performace and probably pushed it from Oscar-nominated into Oscar-winning acting. Notably Roy Scheider, who had been on good terms with Friedkin, lost out in the "Best Supporting Actor" category to Ben Johnson. As for Friedkin's directing itself, it is nothing short of brilliant. He tries to create the feeling of a documentary, which for a former documentary maker isn't too hard. This is mainly done by having shoulder-mounted cameras with minimal cuts, giving you the feeling of watching a news report. Indeed in the film's final climatic scene, shot in a warren of claustrophobic, dilapidated rooms, Friedkin simply sent out a few cameramen without directions and told them to wonder the corridors while Hackman and co stalked about. All this makes the film a more involving experience. It's all good and well to watch "the Fast and the Furious" with all it's jump-cuttery and so on, but do you actually feel part of it?
Oops, I just mentioned a car chase film... Funny that, since "the French Connection" has THE best car-chase ever. In fact its car chse will never be bettered, mainly because it's real and nowadays you would not be able to get away with filming a real car chase. I keep saying car-chase but it's actually a train chase, as Hackman pursues a train by road, which is just another twist to the previously conventional, hackneyed car chase genre. Friedkin took a stunt driver out into Brooklyn's streets and filmed him as he hurtled down roads with the accelerator pshed to the floor. When you see a car skid to get out the way that's because a real-life person has just seen a maniac hurtling head on at them along a real-life road. Dangerous it may have been but nothing will ever approach it again. There's nothing quite like it.
Here you can see that the film works on different levels. It is on base level and action film, stepping up: a psychological thriller, and after the enigmatic ending it transcends genres in the way that so few films do. Best of all you can watch it on whatever level you choose and in all cases its genuinely chilling ending will leave you thinking about long after the disc is nestled back in its box.
It isn't any wonder that this film started the careers of some of Hollywood's best-known actors, producers and director, the experience they create is electrifying. Friedkin went on to direct "The Exorcist", Hackman won another Oscar for his role in "Mississippi Burning", Scheider starred in "Jaws" and received another Oscar nomination and a plethora of other talents were set on their way to stardom. "The French Connection" rules in so many ways that it will effortlessly become one of the best films in your collection if you do buy it. If you want any proof of this then watch Frankenheimer's sequel (which comes in the box set) straight afterwards, which descends to the level of an extra in the still-remembered force of the original. The sequel isn't bad and Hackman's portrayal of a junkie going through cold turkey is stunning but when put next to the original it only accentuates how brilliant the latter was and is and ever shall be.
In short, "The French Connection" rocks, so buy it now.