1971--The French Connection, William Friedkin

 

1971--The French Connection—William Friedkin

Nominated: A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra

Should have won:The French Connection

Be sure to see: Bay of Blood, Brian's Song, Dirty Harry, Duel, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Tombs of the Blind Dead , Vanishing Point, Willard

“I'm going to nail you for picking your feet in Poughkeepsie”--Popeye Doyle

     Certain movies have iconic scenes. Psycho's shower scene; Singin' in the Rain's title dance number; and of course when you think of the term “car chase” most people would immediately think of 1971's best picture winner The French Connection.

    Right off the bat I'd like to point out that the car/train chase in The French Connection is pretty amazing but I would still rank it third. The chase in The Blues Brothers would fill my runner-up spot but Bullitt tops the list with the gold standard car chase of all time, nothing has topped it. Look up these chases on youtube and decide for yourself. But what makes The French Connection's chase impressive are some behind the scene tidbits. The car that crashes was real with the driver having no idea a movie was being filmed. The other cars on the road were not driven by stunt doubles but real motorists, unaware they were in a movie.  Gene Hackman did his own driving rather than a stunt double. And the entire scene was done in one take with the camera mounted on the hood. Action was called and Hackman floored the gas pedal; there is no way that would fly today. The scene ends with the hero shooting the unarmed villain in the back, an image that ended up on the poster for the movie, angering police, and rightfully so, that an officer would kill in this manner.

     Directed by future Exorcist director William Friedkin, the film is based on a novel about a real drug bust case, the largest drug seizure in United States history, $220 million worth. The imagery is the gritty side of New York, shot in a documentary style, like Kids (1995). Many times Friedkin would rehearse the actors and the camera crew separately to get a more unnatural feel. Popeye Doyle (which is where Popeye’s Chicken gets its name; not from the cartoon character), played by Gene Hackman in an Oscar winning role, was based on real life cop Eddie Egan who was oftentimes on the set giving his input with dialogue saying “I wouldn't say that” to Hackman or Friedkin. The French Connection is an all around solid police thriller. My favorite scene other than the car/train chase is one where a car is completely stripped by the police looking for drugs, which they are convinced must be hidden somewhere due to the poundage of the car. But where are the drugs?

     Hackman ran away with a best actor Oscar but I kind of like Roy Scheider's part as well. It is a mystery to me how that actor didn't just take off. He was solid in this; brilliant in his role three years later in Jaws, one of the biggest fan favorites of all time, and then the following year played a tough yet smooth role in Marathon Man. Why audiences didn't eat him up for decades is a mystery to me.

     I understand why this movie could be disliked by some, but I liked it okay. It isn't as good of a police thriller as In the Heat of the Night four years before but it is still good. I liked the cold feeling in the air. I liked the unpolished look of the cinematography. And Hackman and Scheider gave genuinely tough and mean likeness to their characters.

Note: In the Tom Hanks movie Big, Josh is watching The French Connection is his scummy motel when he hears the gunshots outside. So if you've ever watched Big and wondered what that was, there you go.