Login
My expectations of The French Connection were pretty high because not only did it win Best Picture but it even beat A Clockwork Orange and Stanley Kubrick. It is a very good film that I did really enjoy but it did feel a little bit slow to start off with. I personally think it took about half an hour to get into 'Popeye' Doyle and 'Cloudy' Russo. 1971 was a great year in cinema and did feature a lot of famous films that are part of many genres. I think it had some similarities to Dirty Harry (not just the film itself but the characters too). I think the main key parts of the film when I was stuck to the screen were during the action scenes especially the train and car-chase scene and the scene where Popeye would be chasing after a suspect or fugitive.
Gene Hackman delivers an absolutely brilliant performance as Jimmy 'Popeye' Boyle. He is based on detective Eddie Egan who actually appeared as Boyle's detective supervisor like the real Sonny Grosso is another detective supervisor and Roy Scheider's character Det. Buddy Russo is based on him which does make it a true story. Actors such as James Caan, Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle declined the role of Popeye Boyle and perhaps that was good because it doesn't seem likely that they would've done a better job than Gene Hackman seeing as he won the Best Leading Actor Oscar in 1972. 4 years before Steven Spielberg's breakthrough masterpiece Jaws, Roy Scheider stars in The French Connection in a role that perhaps led him to star in the lead role in Jaws seeing both characters he plays in both films are police officers.
William Friedkin is a director who has received a lot of credit from the Academy for making great films but unfortunately directors like Hitchcock, Kubrick, Bergman, Kurosawa and Fellini never did. Friedkin did do an incredible job directing this especially in the train chase scene where he'd have to cause a lot of traffic because they're shooting the film and that was just beautifully made for its time and I'd even say that it either sums up exactly to how awesome car chase scenes in films are like today or maybe even better because they're full of CGI whereas this one wasn't. It won 5 Oscars out of 8 nominations. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Leading Actor (Gene Hackman) and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Roy Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound.
Overall, The French Connection is a very enjoyable classic that perhaps didn't deserve all of the credit at the Academy Awards as much as Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell and A Clockwork Orange. Brilliantly acted by Gene Hackman (but still find his performance better in Unforgiven) and well-filmed in the modern day era. It is definitely worth checking out!
8/10
