Review of The French Connection (1971) by Will H — 24 Mar 2012

I keep coming back to the lost art of 1960s/1970s crime/action films, from Bullitt to Dirty Harry, and of that particular genre, The French Connection is definitely at the top of the class. It won Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay for a reason, and it deserves every single Oscar it received.

The breakout film for Exorcist director William Friedkin, in many ways, this effort surpasses even that horror classic. It''s the go-to film for cop drama, and set a template that many future films have tried (and often failed) to replicate.

Friedkin directs the film in a gritty, and then-unconventional style, more suited to documentaries than feature films, and only enhanced by DP Owen Roizman's superb cinematography (little wonder he would bring him on The Exorcist too).

Screenwriter Ernest Tidyman adapts the remarkably true story told by the original novel excellently, while Don Ellis provides a brilliant and often startling score that only amplifies the already thick tension that permeates the film, and Jerry Greenberg's sharp editing keeps the movie running at an incredibly fast pace without ever feeling rushed.

All these words, and I haven't even gotten to the cast yet. As the Oscar would indicate, Gene Hackman defines his career here, and completely OWNS the role of Popeye Doyle, our requisite good guy, but how good is he is the real question here.

Hackman makes him likable and unique, while also reminding us that he is obsessed, borderline violent, and among the most amoral cops working in Brooklyn. Roy Scheider of Jaws fame almost serves as a more moral counterpoint, but Buddy Russo is a bit of an enigma in and of himself.

Fernando Rey, as Alain Charnier, makes for an mysterious antagonist, who's strange escape at film's end only adds to the aura of his character, and Marcel Bozzuffi's Nicoli serves as the muscle.

Honestly, The French Connection should be near the top of any filmgoer's list. Morally ambiguous, dramatically satisfying, and some truly brilliant action set pieces (most notably the riveting car/train chase sequence, that literally is one of the two or three best chase scenes ever shot on film), The French Connection is truly the complete package, tightly woven into its 105-minute runtime.