The French Connection (1971)

Let's be realistic.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Film Review: "The French Connection" (1971)Winning "Best Picture" on April 10th 1972 over highly-provocative, in some circles favored, "A Clockwork Orange" produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) toward an overly-fortunate, due to 40 time multiplying production budget at the U.S. domestic box office alone, producer Philip D'Antoni and the righteous award for "Best Director" toward 36-year-old uprising free-creative William Friedkin in order to deliver his world-wide-audience shocking novel-adaptated screen version of "The Exorcist" (1973) two years later, when this New York City cop-drama meets suspense-beats-of-excellence delivers at that time of conception new-age action-thrills due to relentless-chasing camera operations ingnited by cinematographer Owen Roizman, pushing hands-on action beats to live-performances by a deadly triangle two cops on one criminal on foot, in cars and trains, portrayed in haunting fashions by Academy-Award-winning Gene Hackman, at age 40, in best form to maximized worldview despair of an overly-clever drug-trafficking Fernando Rey (1917-1994), when Roy Scheider (1932-2008) as also-Oscar-nominated supporting character Buddy Russo brings moral stability in an early received action-thriller motion picture for any generation to indulge on, shot on gritty urban New York State locations on constant running 35mm "technicolor" -timed film-stock finished with a 100-Minute-Cut deliverance of a young filmmaker, who like no others made the most of talented cast and independent budget given to him in comparable Academy-Award "Best Picture" wins in eighty-nine years of Oscar-history since its first reception on May 16th 1929.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

Two American police officers try to track a shipment of drugs from France in this iconic crime thriller directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman. The film was a big box office success in its day, showcasing chase sequences as rarely seen before, and with frequently mobile cinematography from Owen Roizman, including well- used hand-held shots, the film is definitely technically adept. Indeed, at the best of times, 'The French Connection' is a thrilling ride, but unfortunately this is not very often - and a second viewing does little to improve things. All of the chase sequences are certainly exciting (and one where Fernando Rey gets on and off a train repeatedly is even quite funny), however, the pacing of the film slows down to a near halt in between the action scenes. The story is fairly decent, involving police surveillance and on-the-spot ingenuity, however, the characters are never particularly likable, or even fleshed out in any depth beyond being painted as relentless cops, and Hackman's Best Actor Oscar win remains one of the oddest of all time (the film also inexplicably won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay over 'The Last Picture Show' that year). Simply put, without characters that are remarkable or interesting to follow around, the film falls rather flat in its non-action scenes. Fortunately, there is a lot of action here, including foot as well as car chases, but given how many other films about hardened cops have come out in the years since, it is challenging to fathom just how popular this film was in its day.

I had never seen this much lauded movie from 1971 about New York City police detectives intercepting a heroin shipment from France. The first thing that struck me when watching the film was the grimness of 1970s New York City, its highways, streets and subway are excellently captured by the director with its sounds of street horns replacing the need for a soundtrack. The main characters are police officers Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his slightly younger partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider). Hackman and Scheider both look so young when I consider there later roles in films such as Jaws (Scheider) and the Superman franchise (Hackman). Popeye (not the cartoon character!) is an overtly racist, streetwise cop whilst Russo is the calming influence in the partnership! The drug side is led by Marseilles entrepreneur Charnier (Fernando Rey), the late Spanish Rey is perhaps best known for his work on some of Luis Buñuel films and has a filmography as big as anyone! Tony Lo Bianco who I only watched last week in the cult classic The Honeymoon Killers also has a role. The grime of New York is contrasted with the opulence of Marseilles and a brief scene in Washington DC. A chase sequence featuring a gas guzzling car of the era against an overhead Subway train is memorable for its editing and realism. The film won Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor (Hackman) and editing Oscars. Whilst good I don't actually rate it as good as Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood. Again perhaps its is the grime of a cold, winter New York versus the relative sunshine of San Francisco? Also the film ends pretty downbeat with drugs being smuggled into New York via a Lincoln car, Charnier escaping the law and a ruined building scene.

The French Connection for many won the Oscar unfairly because the competitor is the Classic A Clockwork Orange , I digress , I really think top A Clockwork Orange to The French Connection , but I did not think this injustice , the soundtrack is great , the scene chase is one of the film 's best, the performance of Gene Hackman is great , the direction is agile and very good , the cast is good, the picture is good, and the action scenes are competent , the movie is not long , I I thought up short , the script has problems , more is good, is unnecessary characters , and some weak dialogue , I usually say that some movies should be thirty or twenty minutes shorter , as the French Connection I it was twenty minutes long , the French Connection is very good, with a great performance of Hackman deserved in my view 5 Oscar ( even me finding A Clockwork Orange a bit higher). Note 8.4