The French Connection Review

 

        Director William Friedkin is always never in the conversation for the directors who changed Hollywood in the 70s. Mostly the big heavies are Spielberg, Scorsese, de Palma, Coppola, and Lucas to an extent, are always listed for the ones who ushered in a new way and style for filmmaking. The French Connection is Friedkin’s best work, second only to The Exorcist. It’s the cream of the crop of gritty 70s action films. 

1. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle

        I have to constantly stress this, it seems like every film that is insanely great is based on a novel. Based on the novel which is a retelling of an actual event by Robin Moore of the same name, this film adaptation takes some creative liberties and I have not read the book so that’s my only opinion on it. The film is about detective Jimmy Doyle who works in the narcotics division, as he tries to stop a drug trade from happening and chasing the ring leader of all of it Alain Charnier. 

        To assist Doyle, Detective Buddy Russo is his partner to find and stop Charnier. Ostensibly, this is Doyle’s film, we actually get to see who he is as a cop. There are moments where we see them together when they are analyzing some documents about the drug traders. Jimmy is a lazy Detective whereas Buddy is more strait laced. It’s evident when Russo visits Jimmy’s apartment and just sees how disorganized it is. 

        Throughout the film, as the investigation goes to long, the chief assigns the duo to two federal investigators. It really angers Jimmy since he doesn’t want interference in his case. His entire evolution devolves to using nightly stakeouts to literally seeing an abandoned car that was used by the drug criminals and stripping it apart. That level of commitment shows just how grounded he is and it makes him a borderline anti-hero and vigilante. Gene Hackman plays him so well that his morale compass is sometimes questionable. 

        Like in one moment where we see the both of them enter a bar that has mostly black occupants. He has everyone stand up and face the wall, he interrogates one of them to find info on the drug trade. One moment that I like is when he’s trailing on the main leader Alain. The whole walk chase leads to the subway. It’s slightly comedic when Alain enters and Jimmy enters and exiting. At one point, Alain fools “Popeye” into exiting and the subway leaves. Making it, is Alain waving goodbye to Jimmy.

        One could interpret the film to be a Moby Dick analogue where Jimmy is Ahab and the white whale is Alain and the drug runners. He is constantly on the move and to be one step ahead of the bad guys that it drains him. One picture that I use is when him and Russo are in the police impound tearing apart the car, Jimmy is just tired that his clothes do the talking. The film doesn't end well, not that it ends crappy, I won't say what happens but Jimmy accidentally kills a Federal Agent who he thinks is Alain. 

2. The Best Car Chase Ever

        This is the highlight of the movie. When you Google the movie this scene usually pops out. I’ll even go as far to say that this is the best car chase I have seen, and I’ve seen Baby Driver. This whole part links to my next talking point of the film. Everything about it just screams crazy. Especially since, Jimmy is chasing one of the associates involved in the drug trade. He straight up borrows a civilian’s car to follow the train. 

        Nowadays, you can’t film a chase scene without a permit. Especially since everything seems staged, because that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. The point is that there was no permit for this chase. Every turn, civilian reaction, right down to the crash and bumps are real. I think that Gene Hackman is one hell of a stuntman, but an absolute mad man for driving like that. Obviously, words can’t describe just how well this stunt is. Even with pictures offering snippets of the chase. It’s that good, no, great. 

3. Friedkin Method 

        Will Friedkin’s way of shooting a film is one of the main highlights. He has a very distinct touch that I noticed when I watch The Exorcist. It looks like a documentary. What I mean is that mostly when a character is walking or there’s that moment in the only car chase we see just how far away the car and train are. Aside from that it has touches of guerilla filmmaking. The one thing that I do love since it was filmed in New York City is those shots of the camera just looking at the people walking in Time Square as both Jimmy and Buddy are driving. It reminds me of Taxi Driver and it’s not confirmed perhaps Martin Scorsese saw that moment and applied it to his De Niro film. 

4. Overall 

        I love this movie, it won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. William Friedkin is the director that is overshadowed by the big name directors of his time, but he absolutely deserves to be in the same conversation after this film. 

        The French Connection gets a four out of five.