Director: William Friedkin
Screenplay: Ernest Tidyman, based on the book The French Connection by Robin Moore
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi
Running Time: 104 minutes
Genre: Thriller
New York City police detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman) and Sonny "Cloudy" Russo (Scheider) investigate a huge international heroin smuggling operation being run out of Marseille by wealthy Alain Charnier (Rey).
This is one of the most influential cop thrillers ever made. Inspired by true events it's filmed in a semi-documentary style with a jittery, constantly moving camera on the wintry streets of New York and dialogue that sounds like snatches of overheard conversations. The filmmakers strived as far as possible for realism. Police detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso (the real-life models for the characters played by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider) were constant presences on set, and the film does spend a lot of time on the minutiae of police work. The detectives spend most of the time standing in the freezing cold, or huddled in cars and dingy subterranean offices transcribing wiretap tapes, interspersed with sudden bursts of action. A lot of viewers at the time found the film very confusing (a MAD magazine parody was called "What's the Connection?"), but that kind of storytelling is more familiar now thanks to TV shows such as The Wire (2002-2008). Gene Hackman turns in a great performance as the generally pretty repellent racist, lecherous, boorish and violent "Popeye" Doyle.
The film features some spectacular action sequences, including a justly-famous car chase sequence, which is one of the best ever put onto film. If you are a fan of thriller, and have not seen this one, it is definitely a must-see.
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