Archive of films French Connection / The French Connection
USA
1971, 104 min
Section:
New Hollywood II
Year: 2008
This legendary crime film, awarded with five Oscars, deals with a pair of tough New York cops (Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider) on the trail of a big-time heroin shipment headed from Marseille to U.S. shores. The hit of the year for both audiences and critics, famed for its unforgettable car chase, radically influenced the modern conception of the action thriller.
Synopsis
The mere name of this, one of the grittiest films of the early 1970s, immediately brings to mind the most glorified car chase in the history of cinematography and the outstanding Gene Hackman as the aggressive New York cop Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle. This realistic, high-energy crime film, which influenced the modern interpretation of the action thriller, was based on a true story that happened in 1962. Using the unscrupulous methods for which narcotics detectives are renowned, Popeye and his partner Buddy Russo (the recently deceased Roy Scheider) pick up the trail of a big-time heroin shipment from France organised by the Marseilles dealer Alain Charnier. Friedkin builds a plot line for a police raid using virtually no dialogue and a semi-documentary style with emphasis on the authenticity of details. Through the frequent use of hand-held cameras, we accompany the do-or-die men with their own idea of the law into dirty Brooklyn niches and the cold corners of Manhattan’s vast city streets. In his legendary film - which generated 50 million dollars for sceptical Fox studios - Friedkin wittingly ties in to the style of the early films of his European colleague Costa-Gavras, The Sleeping Car Murders and Z.
About the director
William Friedkin (b. 1935, Chicago) worked in TV and made documentary films at the beginning of his career, of which The People vs. Paul Crump received awards at film festivals. After a two-year stay in Hollywood he debuted in 1967 with the film Good Times. Four years later, The French Connection received tremendous acclaim among critics and audiences and was awarded five Oscars. Friedkin made cinematic history once again two years later, this time with his cult horror The Exorcist, based on the best-selling novel by W. P. Blatty. During the 1970s, his most successful period, the admirer of French cinema also made a remake of Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear starring Roy Scheider. In the 1980s Friedkin followed up on the success of his early films, particularly with the thriller To Live and Die in LA. His most recent film is the gloomy drama Bug, which came away from Cannes two years ago with the FIPRESCI prize.
Contacts
Hollywood Classics
Suite 31, Beaufort Court, Admirals Way, E14 9XL, London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 517 7525
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.hollywoodclassics.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
| Section: | New Hollywood II |
|---|---|
| Director: | William Friedkin |
| Screenplay: | Ernest Tidyman podle knihy / based on a book by Robin Moore |
| Dir. of Photography: | Owen Roizman |
| Music: | Don Ellis |
| Editor: | Jerry Greenberg |
| Producer: | Philip D’Antoni |
| Production: | Schine-Moore Productions, D’Antoni Productions |
| Cast: | Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco |
| Contact: | Hollywood Classics |
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