There's a paradox at the heart of The French Connection, a neo-noir police thriller that not only made Gene Hackman a household name, but also helped pave the way for the genre's modern renaissance. The film's unhinged authenticity, coupled with the stylistic formalities of its soundtrack and camera work by cinematographer Owen Roizman, pushed the boundaries of Hollywood police dramas without ever quite feeling like they were trying to do so.
The movie is based on Robin Moore's book of the same name and stars New York City detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and his partner Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, who are tasked with tracking down wealthy The french connection the pornostarz album heroin smuggler Alain Charnier. The script was written by Ernest Tidyman, and the film won five Academy Awards including best picture, director, screenplay and editing.
It's an unrelenting, gritty look at a drug cartel in 1971 New York with the backdrop of dirty streets, bums, drug addicts and gangs. It's a prototypical neo-noir, with an urban grittiness that's rarely seen on the big screen before or after (the film was also shot by William Friedkin, and he took many cues from Costa-Gavras' Z).
One of the most famous chase scenes in film history occurs when Doyle commandeers a sedan and gives chase on the subway tracks as the French henchman makes his getaway by commandeering an elevated train. The chase, which nearly kills a woman and her baby and ends with Doyle shooting the henchman in the thigh, is one of the great action sequences of all time.
But there's a lot more to the film than its infamous car-and-train chase. In fact, there are plenty of other action sequences in the film that are just as exciting today as they were when it was released.
In addition to its main characters, the film's secondary cast includes Corsican smuggler Jean Jehan as well as his French counterpart and a bunch of other smugglers from around the world. They're all smuggling some sort of drug, and they're all trying to get it out of America or France.
At times, it's like watching a documentary - you get a feel for the inner workings of an organized crime syndicate, the smugglers themselves, and the various players in the drug trade. It's an incredibly detailed and gritty film, which is why it remains so important to the world of criminal justice.
It's the first Hollywood film to feature real New York streets and buildings, which is a huge step forward for the genre. The grimy atmosphere is heightened by the cinematography of Roizman, who captures every nuance of the city's chaotic landscape.
The score by Bob Ellis is a masterstroke, too. Throughout, the brass section creates a biting sound that's always underpinned by a tense percussion beat and a constant pulse of piano notes. The combination of the sound and Roizman's dynamic changes in the background is a kind of kinesthetic force that propels the action in ways most other films can't.
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