by Chris Marshall:
I have an interesting relationship with The French Connection in that I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve
written about it. More specifically, I’ve written about Pauline Kael’s review
of it in The New Yorker. Kael strongly
disliked the movie, claiming that it was “what we once feared mass
entertainment might become: jolts for jocks.”
My opinion wasn’t as harsh, but she was right about at least
one thing: it was one of a few films that came out around this time that had a
common theme. This, Dirty Harry, and Walking Tall were all made in the early
1970s, and all concerned law enforcement officials that had to go against the
wishes of higher-ups to catch the villains.
You can make up your own mind about why there were so many
films of this variety coming out at the time, but some common explanations were
that they were reactions against the Nixon administration, or the war in
Vietnam, or in some cases, a reaction against the reactions against the two
aforementioned topics. Kael also described Dirty
Harry as “fascist,” and Walking Tall doesn’t
exactly contain the most liberal themes in the world.
Or maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe studios just
realized that this kind of movie was popular with the movie-going audience and
made more. In any case, this genre has come to be seen as emblematic of the
early 1970s as a whole.
Personally, I thought it was pretty good, though a little
different from what I expected. The story in The French Connection is told almost entirely through visuals.
Dialogue is sparse, and it’s used only when absolutely necessary. There are so
many scenes where you see Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), the police officer
trying to crack the case, just waiting and watching. Words are unnecessary. We
see what he sees.
 |
| Brody recruits Doyle to help with a shark problem. |
And then there’s the car chase. Far and away the most famous
scene from the movie, that car chase is always the first thing I think of when
I hear about this film. I can understand why it’s held in such high regard. Its
appeal is not primarily based on insane stunts or fast-paced editing. It’s
exciting because there are stakes involved, and the movie has given us reason
to care whether or not Popeye catches the criminal. I’m not even the type of
person who really likes car chases, either.
Of course, I’m also happy about any movie that makes French
people be the villains. I’ve always said (by always, I mean I made it up right
now) that France is the Boston of countries. They’re not necessarily evil, but there’s just something
inherently distasteful about them. Unfortunately, I’ve just disqualified myself
from ever being president.
William Friedkin directed The French Connection, and his next film was The Exorcist. All in all, it was a pretty successful couple of
years for him. Sadly, he didn’t do much of note for another 30 years (unless
you count Cruising as being “of note”).
That being said, he did direct Shaquille O’Neal’s big screen debut, Blue Chips, so that’s got to count for
something. That’s how Shaq got the nickname “The Big Stanislavski.”
I think this was a nice lead-in to The Godfather. It’s a nice, taut[1]
thriller that sneakily gets you really involved. I started out wondering when
something was going to happen, but then, all of the sudden, without even
realizing it, I was really into it. That’s all I can ask for, really. With
several of these Best Picture winners, I’ve watched the end credits roll[2],
still wondering when something was going to happen.
[1] I
know this is a cliché, but I still like to refer to taut thrillers.
[2]
Well, not so many. End credits are a relatively new development, as far as The
Oscar Project is concerned.
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