The French Connection (1971)

Written by Ernest Tidyman

Directed by William Friedkin

We’re entering a period of this list that, I’ll admit, I’m not really looking forward to. The 1970’s in film is generally considered, like the country as a whole, a pretty dark and depressing time. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s was giving way to even broader social upheaval, political scandals and war started turning the general public away from politicians, and terrorist attacks, such as the Munich Massacre, began gaining worldwide prominence. It’s only natural that feeling would seep into the entertainment the public consumed. The comedies, musicals, and sweeping epics of the 1960’s made way for gritty, realistic films, of which The French Connection is an excellent example.

I say it’s an excellent example, but I can’t say it’s an excellent film. It’s got some great stuff, to be sure, and I’ll be completely open that perhaps my view is colored by knowing that this is a dark time for cinema.

Gene Hackman

The plot centers around a shipment of heroin being smuggled from France into New York, and the two detectives who are trying to confiscate it and the smugglers. For juxtaposition, 20 years earlier, the winner that year was An American in Paris. The language of cinema, and the topics they’re willing to cover, has massively matured. I’m on the fence about if it’s a good or bad thing. It’s great that film is maturing, but there’s a certain escapism in the movies, and this decade strips that away, giving the audience a gritty realism that isn’t much different from the world outside the theater doors.

The film’s signature car chase

Another issue I have with the film is that grit, physically on the print. Midnight Cowboy has the same issue, and I don’t believe it’s due solely to age. The actual film stock of the era seems to have an unusually high amount of grain and grit on the stock. It reminds me of the messy, grainy quality I despised on the Disney Animated films of the same era. It’s not beautiful to look at, which, again, ties back into the realism of the time.

The film stars Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, who I only knew from Jaws. The film is definitely Hackman’s to shine, and while his character isn’t great, Hackman gives a fantastic performance. Scheider isn’t featured as much, but he’s also good (it’s tough to give him a review when he definitely plays second fiddle to Hackman).

While the film has a slow start, once the film gets to its signature car/train chase sequence, the film starts to pick up intensity and becomes more interesting. As the film drives towards its conclusion, it becomes a great thriller, as the detectives get close, then lose the smugglers, then get close again. Director William Friedkin, best known as the director of The Exorcist, ratchets up the tension, and while the film ends somewhat anticlimactically, it ends with the realization that the ride to get there was still somewhat fun. It’s still too realistic for my taste, but it’s an interesting and revealing look at the start of a turbulent decade.

FINAL GRADE: B-