I had the privilege of seeing THE FRENCH CONNECTION with A.O. Scott and Billy Friedkin sitting in the audience at a Lincoln Center screening a couple of years ago
That IS a privilege. If only Gene had been there too. I was an extra on some second rate movie he was shooting in San Francisco in the early 80's and sat outside his trailer for three hours wsaiting for him to emerge to just see him in person. I didn't approach, just wanted to see the legend.
Billy Friedkin is a brilliant director and his knowledge of film history is encyclopedic and erudite. I wish his later work was as good as his earlier work. But he's admitted that film direction is a young man's game. Perhaps he's right. But here, with "The French Connection" and also with "The Exorcist" he was at the top of his game. I love seeing New York City as it was in the seedy early 70's. There's a kind of perverse beauty to it. So many images in this film haunt my cinematic memory. Only the best directors are able to achieve that. There are very few of them.
Relentlessly paced, thrilling visuals with documentary realism, The French Connection is 1 of my 10 favorite movies ever made, 5th place actually, ive seen thousands of films.
I absolutely don't get why anyone would say that. It was quite boring, no character development and the story has just so many plot-holes in my opinion. I was very disappointed. Acting was good music and cinematography. But there are so many other movies that have that. I usually love crimes and didn't really love this one. It was ok but i was shocked it won so many Oscars including best picture over a clockwork orange. I'm just honestly very curious what makes it so good for someone like you as there clearly must be a point I'm missing about it. I'd be very happy if you could elaborate on your point of view.
I don't think the Doyle/Ahab "connection" was accidental. Doyle, when wearing his black overcoat and porkpie hat, bears a distinct resemblance to classic versions to Melville's anti-hero. I bet this was something Friedkin had in mind when Popeye's wardrobe was considered.
You can't find movies like this these days..period. In a world of overused CGI...all-the-same-looking actors...lazy directing...goofy soundtracks...and of course remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and rip-offs....you just WON'T find a movie like this. This raised the bar and the bar is rarely reached.
Mark Hazleton If you can't find contemporary movies of comparable quality then you're not trying hard enough. There's tons of great international, indie, and experimental films being pumped out all the time.
I saw this film as a revisiting of my youth at the FILM FORUM on the lower West Side in NYC. Some 36 years after I a saw it as a child bak in 1972. What blew me away was two 11 year olds who sat in front of me & they were so moved they were practically yelling in their seats with excitement as Popeye went after Nicola screaming after the L Train / car chase. Right there it reinstalled my belief...Classic cinema at this level holds true as real entertainment for ANY & ALL generations. I looked at those two kids as the credits rolled & the looks on their faces were sheer astonishment. They, like me knew that, that was the best $ 20 they had spent that day on a cold winters NYC afternoon 36 years later. PS - the theatre was FULL ! What Friedkin gave us then was irreplaceable. A few years later the Lincoln Center did a showing & who should show up but the man himself to give commentary. William Friedkin & the actual detective - Sonny Grosso who was played by Roy Scheider ( Cloudy) Talk about memorable.
I recall being deeply impacted by French Connection upon its release and it remains a favourite to this day. I love your analysis on the appeal of the relentlessness of Doyle and the Drug Lord. Hackman, of course, loathed the character he so vividly portrayed, but he made him so obsessively watchable that it's impossible to look away. Doyle doesn't hesitate for a second when he learns he accidentally killed the Fed, he simply reloads his revolver and goes forward.
It also won Best Picture, Actor, Director, Film Editing and the Screenplay award for your Uncle. Your Uncle also wrote the screenplays to "Shaft" "Shaft's Big Score" and "High Plains Drifter", along with the teleplay for the outstanding 1980 TV movie, "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones". By any standard your Uncle was not too shabby at what he did.
Great film. Haven't seen it in awhile. Doyle is kind of like a NYC Dirty Harry, without the 44 Mag. But there's more to the character than that. Good mention of the Javert and Ahab parallels. Roy Scheider is excellent in his supporting role, and i don't know if there has been a more suave, urbane villain than Fernando Rey. And of course, one of the best car chases in cinema history. That had to be hard to do in NYC. Bravo!
The cleverest scene in the movie is when Cloudy (Roy Scheider) tells Devereau we "found your car, not scratch on it. You must lead a charmed life Mr. Devereau!"
Gritty NY street scenes! Doesn’t the bad guy get away? Intense car chases and relentless pursuit! Papa Doyle wants the French bad guy bad but he’s always one step ahead of him. Great Action sequences and a classic car chase underneath the rail trains of NYC! Classic film!
Charnier had to evade capture at the end of The French Connection while the others weren't so lucky. He escaped for a reason to make French Connection II because it's obvious he goes missing you know a sequel is probably coming, the original was good but I liked the sequel too.
Hello A.O., my name is Eric Ryder and you did a great review on "The French Connection". I enjoyed this movie a whole lot, the action, the suspense and the fact that it was based on a true story makes this film all the more incredible. There are many memorable scenes especially when Doyle and Charnier are on the subway and they each kept going off and on the train and then Charnier outsmarts Doyle. The car chase scene is one of the best ever produced. I thought the characters were all very believable and they all played their respected roles brilliantly. This movie made Gene Hackman a star. Please feel free to visit my channel and check out my review for "The French Connection". I like to know what you think. Okay? Thank you so much.
JW200: The hat was a sign to other police officers that they were undercover and following a target. They did so to avoid being acknowledged by other cops and therefore being revealed.
@White Knight I don’t see how “propaganda” from universities makes people more sensitive about racism. I think it’s just a personality trait of liberals to be more overly sensitive. I think the biggest culprit and purveyor of propaganda is the establishment news media, especially when it comes to foreign policy. They pretend to be liberal, yet they’re the ones that spread lies and propaganda about the justification of going into Iraq. And the anchors who were against the war in Iraq all got fired. I think CNN and MSNBC are just as horrible as Fox News with misleading news coverage. And to to be fair, I think conservatives also act like snowflakes. They speak out against cancel culture on a constant basis, yet they try to cancel professional athletes who exercise free speech.
Thing is, "popeye doyle" does a lot of beating people up in this movie🤕he beats up all the "little people" but in the end the head guy "alain charnier" gets away🤔
In the movie Doyle's partner throws a hat to the rear car window, when they start following a suspect (Sal). But what the hat means on the window? Why it throws it there? Some specific sign for someone?
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The French Connection is a true masterpiece of cinema, still as powerful today as it was in 1971!
I had the privilege of seeing THE FRENCH CONNECTION with A.O. Scott and Billy Friedkin sitting in the audience at a Lincoln Center screening a couple of years ago
That IS a privilege. If only Gene had been there too. I was an extra on some second rate movie he was shooting in San Francisco in the early 80's and sat outside his trailer for three hours wsaiting for him to emerge to just see him in person. I didn't approach, just wanted to see the legend.
Billy Friedkin is a brilliant director and his knowledge of film history is encyclopedic and erudite. I wish his later work was as good as his earlier work. But he's admitted that film direction is a young man's game. Perhaps he's right. But here, with "The French Connection" and also with "The Exorcist" he was at the top of his game. I love seeing New York City as it was in the seedy early 70's. There's a kind of perverse beauty to it. So many images in this film haunt my cinematic memory. Only the best directors are able to achieve that. There are very few of them.
Part II is pretty good as well.
Relentlessly paced, thrilling visuals with documentary realism, The French Connection is 1 of my 10 favorite movies ever made, 5th place actually, ive seen thousands of films.
I absolutely don't get why anyone would say that. It was quite boring, no character development and the story has just so many plot-holes in my opinion. I was very disappointed. Acting was good music and cinematography. But there are so many other movies that have that. I usually love crimes and didn't really love this one. It was ok but i was shocked it won so many Oscars including best picture over a clockwork orange. I'm just honestly very curious what makes it so good for someone like you as there clearly must be a point I'm missing about it. I'd be very happy if you could elaborate on your point of view.
I don't think the Doyle/Ahab "connection" was accidental. Doyle, when wearing his black overcoat and porkpie hat, bears a distinct resemblance to classic versions to Melville's anti-hero. I bet this was something Friedkin had in mind when Popeye's wardrobe was considered.
Best movie ever made. Period
You can't find movies like this these days..period.
In a world of overused CGI...all-the-same-looking actors...lazy directing...goofy soundtracks...and of course remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and rip-offs....you just WON'T find a movie like this. This raised the bar and the bar is rarely reached.
+Mark Hazleton Try the french film called "La french" and then give me your impression. ;)
Hipster alert
Mark Hazleton If you can't find contemporary movies of comparable quality then you're not trying hard enough. There's tons of great international, indie, and experimental films being pumped out all the time.
Hereditary, anything by Quintin Tarantino, la confidential. There are there, you just have to look
I saw this film as a revisiting of my youth at the FILM FORUM on the lower West Side in NYC. Some 36 years after I a saw it as a child bak in 1972. What blew me away was two 11 year olds who sat in front of me & they were so moved they were practically yelling in their seats with excitement as Popeye went after Nicola screaming after the L Train / car chase. Right there it reinstalled my belief...Classic cinema at this level holds true as real entertainment for ANY & ALL generations. I looked at those two kids as the credits rolled & the looks on their faces were sheer astonishment. They, like me knew that, that was the best $ 20 they had spent that day on a cold winters NYC afternoon 36 years later. PS - the theatre was FULL !
What Friedkin gave us then was irreplaceable. A few years later the Lincoln Center did a showing & who should show up but the man himself to give commentary. William Friedkin & the actual detective - Sonny Grosso who was played by Roy Scheider ( Cloudy) Talk about memorable.
Gene Hackman was a God in this movie. Totally deserved the Oscar.
I recall being deeply impacted by French Connection upon its release and it remains a favourite to this day. I love your analysis on the appeal of the relentlessness of Doyle and the Drug Lord. Hackman, of course, loathed the character he so vividly portrayed, but he made him so obsessively watchable that it's impossible to look away. Doyle doesn't hesitate for a second when he learns he accidentally killed the Fed, he simply reloads his revolver and goes forward.
I just watched it for the first time and it really is quite enjoyable ,and it keeps you intrigued. Also like that New York era I grew up in...
My Mums all time favourite film, so it must be great.
There were elements of Uncut Gems that made me think of this movie.
Classic 70's NYC movie, gritty city, hard nosed cops, suave bad guys, awsome movie of cat and mouse
It also won Best Picture, Actor, Director, Film Editing and the Screenplay award for your Uncle. Your Uncle also wrote the screenplays to "Shaft" "Shaft's Big Score" and "High Plains Drifter", along with the teleplay for the outstanding 1980 TV movie, "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones". By any standard your Uncle was not too shabby at what he did.
I've never forgotten the MAD magazine spoof: "do you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?" "No, but I pick my nose in Harlem"
Also in that spoof: "Hey, Popeye, you said to check the car's TRUNK for the drugs...and you were right! Why didn't we think of that?"
Great film. Haven't seen it in awhile. Doyle is kind of like a NYC Dirty Harry, without the 44 Mag. But there's more to the character than that. Good mention of the Javert and Ahab parallels. Roy Scheider is excellent in his supporting role, and i don't know if there has been a more suave, urbane villain than Fernando Rey. And of course, one of the best car chases in cinema history. That had to be hard to do in NYC. Bravo!
Studied this film at NYFA...
The cleverest scene in the movie is when Cloudy (Roy Scheider) tells Devereau we "found your car, not scratch on it. You must lead a charmed life Mr. Devereau!"
GREAT MOVIE!!!
Gritty NY street scenes! Doesn’t the bad guy get away? Intense car chases and relentless pursuit! Papa Doyle wants the French bad guy bad but he’s always one step ahead of him. Great Action sequences and a classic car chase underneath the rail trains of NYC! Classic film!
Charnier had to evade capture at the end of The French Connection while the others weren't so lucky. He escaped for a reason to make French Connection II because it's obvious he goes missing you know a sequel is probably coming, the original was good but I liked the sequel too.
a.o -------i'm your biggest fan
Greatest police film ever made
I actually first saw this film in Poughkeepsie.
very good how he gets away from popeye doyle on the train
Many spy agencies around the world use the anti surveillance in the movie for training.
A dish served of coq de vin. chicken in wine.
@@makeit7579 "coq au vin"
A.O., release a book!
Hello A.O., my name is Eric Ryder and you did a great review on "The French Connection". I enjoyed this movie a whole lot, the action, the suspense and the fact that it was based on a true story makes this film all the more incredible. There are many memorable scenes especially when Doyle and Charnier are on the subway and they each kept going off and on the train and then Charnier outsmarts Doyle. The car chase scene is one of the best ever produced. I thought the characters were all very believable and they all played their respected roles brilliantly. This movie made Gene Hackman a star. Please feel free to visit my channel and check out my review for "The French Connection". I like to know what you think. Okay? Thank you so much.
JW200: The hat was a sign to other police officers that they were undercover and following a target. They did so to avoid being acknowledged by other cops and therefore being revealed.
A GREAT MOVIE WITH A LOT OF JUSTICE {JUST US}.
Popeye also bequeathed his trademark chapeau to Heisenberg
wow nice review ;)
Gene Hackman
Subway was 30 cents in 1971.
But closing down the French Connection wasn't even a skirmish in our stupid war on drugs.
So many millennials that I know accuse this movie of being an outright racist film, simply because it has racist characters in it
@White Knight I don’t see how “propaganda” from universities makes people more sensitive about racism. I think it’s just a personality trait of liberals to be more overly sensitive.
I think the biggest culprit and purveyor of propaganda is the establishment news media, especially when it comes to foreign policy. They pretend to be liberal, yet they’re the ones that spread lies and propaganda about the justification of going into Iraq. And the anchors who were against the war in Iraq all got fired. I think CNN and MSNBC are just as horrible as Fox News with misleading news coverage.
And to to be fair, I think conservatives also act like snowflakes. They speak out against cancel culture on a constant basis, yet they try to cancel professional athletes who exercise free speech.
NYC is meaner, dirtier, and nastier more now for the first time since the 70’s
Thing is, "popeye doyle" does a lot of beating people up in this movie🤕he beats up all the "little people" but in the end the head guy "alain charnier" gets away🤔
ive sat there and picked me feet many times
It relates to a rape in Poughkeepsie. the rapist sat on the end of the bed and picked his feet.
That's gross
Shout out to Po Twn!!
In the movie Doyle's partner throws a hat to the rear car window, when they start following a suspect (Sal). But what the hat means on the window? Why it throws it there?
Some specific sign for someone?
Apparently it was to show other police that an unmarked car was on duty and conducting surveillance etc.
It was an NYPD specific trait at the time. As the other poster replied, it indicated plainclothes car.
What happens at the end?? Both die ? What's the implication?
1Kilili Friedkin said maybe it means that the guys gone so crazy he's shooting at shadows
No, at the end Alain escapes and Doyle is reassigned
🤩💉🙋