I just watched this for the first time. Yes this was a fine film with good acting for 1971 standards.
However, I do not get why this won 5 Oscars for best picture, best director, best actor, etc.
I also loathe the type of cheesy late 1960's/early 1970's background music that was in this movie. Other examples of this kind of background music is Dirty Harry, Bullitt, etc.
I am over 40. However, maybe I'm just too new fashioned???
I think people here are maybe seeing the French Connection as a film lover in the 2010's with probably 100 or more cop movies under your belt, look at this film as if you lived in 1971, it's very original and influential and not hard to see why it won those oscars at all, the main train/car chase is probably still the best car chase ever despite the limitations compared to competitors, the way the chase is shot is incredible and the whole film just so gritty and real
shareI found this film long and boring. It was OK just nothing great and certainly did not deserve 5 Oscars or whatever. I had high expectations and it just wasn't all that great.
5/10.
The whole film is incredible, INCLUDING that awesome 60's/70's ambient noise music. I am close to 40 but I don't see what that has to do with anything. I love gritty (hate that word, though) 70's cop movies and the atmosphere. I think because that period is so alien to me yet I was a very young kid in the latter part of the era.
Dirty Harry and Bullitt are also awesome movies.
1971 was a weak year for great films and even though I preferred Fiddler on the Roof - The French Connection was an OK choice.. 1970 had multiple films more deserving of Oscars than The French Connection.
The French Connection was not a bad film, but it did not grab me & make me hang on every moment and detail like great movies do.
worth watching, but not an all-time great... 6 / 10
1971 was a very strong year, in fact, in box-office terms, it was a comeback year for the industry, with FIDDLER ON THE ROOF as the top-grossing film. Many film aficionados would contend that A CLOCKWORK ORANGE was cheated of the Oscar that year. Still, THE FRENCH CONNECTION is #71 on the AFI all-time great American film list. The fact that it didn't "grab you" means that either the AFI, the Academy and fans of this film or wrong or you are.
shareThe fact that it didn't "grab you" means that either the AFI, the Academy and fans of this film or wrong or you are.This sort of argument always irks me. Popular acclaim often arises from people jumping on the bandwagon because they have no faith in their own opinions. Give specific reasons if you disagree with someone, but don't say they're wrong just because they refuse to be lemmings. share
Well, there's also the flip side: someone doesn't like a film, sees it's critically acclaimed, then rushes to volunteer the opinion that it's overrated and didn't deserve the accolades it garnered.
To digress for a moment.
From a very early age, I watched a lot of movies. If a movie was critically acclaimed and I didn't like it, I either (a) figured out what I did and did not like about it and tried to express my views in an articulate fashion; (b) kept my mouth shut on the subject; (c) did a little investigating, read some positive reviews of said film, then revisited it to see if I might've missed something. Often all three in succession.
Because I knew that there were things I didn't know.
If I'd had access to boards like these, I probably would've opted for (d): find an "overrated" thread and pile on with everybody else. There's comfort in numbers, and if I can find a few people to agree with me, then those eggheads must've been wrong, "good for its time", "movies have progressed since then", "anyway that's just my opinion", etc.
The French Connection is a great film. It's as gritty, kinetic and visceral a cop movie as has ever been made. If it's not to your taste, that's fine, but just because you don't like something (and can find others to agree with you) doesn't mean that thing is overrated.
Aye, calling something overrated is another empty argument. I think perhaps the only thing that elevates it above the argument I decried is that at least it's that person's opinion, weak as it may be, rather than just deference to others' opinions.
Anyway, I like your ABCs of film critique. Quite a bit of work goes into making any movie, good or bad, so it's nice to see viewers put a bit of work into their response.
My own thoughts on The French Connection is that it was a great film in its day, but it feels very dated to me now. I find that a lot with the '70s auteur films. In that era's stampede to cast aside convention these films were very much a product of their time, trading longevity for rebellious excitement in the moment.
Ironically, the best of these films became victims of their own success. So many films have gone on to copy them, adding layers of refinement as they go, that the originals feel clumsy and trite now. I think some films are really meant to be enjoyed in their season, like a bottle of beaujolais nouveau.
balthazar_bee, my rule of thumb when somebody on these boards gives an irrelevant or plain stupid review, I simply go to their profile and laugh at the hackwork they think is superior filmmaking.
By the same token, I can understand modern audiences not "getting" THE FRENCH CONNECTION. There have been so many gritty crime films and TV shows since - almost all descendants of this film - that I find I have to indulge their opinions and refrain from vigorous argument, usually responding that the film is a sort of historical record of a period of American life.
When TFC was released, I remember the blurbs - "gut grabbing excitement!" "A roller-coaster ride!" "A film of incredible suspense!" All true because films of that era (and before) were more or less staid affairs. TFC stood apart from the rest. Now, I read comments on this board about how "boring" the film is. Times change, indeed.
For the record, my list of "overrated" critically lauded films include THE USUAL SUSPECTS, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, JFK and the entire canon of Ron Howard. But, hey, that's just me - although I don't waste my time complaining on the boards of films I dislike.
balthazar_bee; Yours is by far the most well reasoned description on these boards of how to analyze any motion picture. I saw F.C. when it was first released, and was very impressed and entertained by not only the acting, but also the structure of the story. The music was a perfect fit as the tension built throughout. Over the following years I have seen it again on several occasions and have never wavered from my initial opinion. This movie presented an original vision of down and dirty police work as had never been previously shown. During the ensuing years many films have tried to live up to the style and quality of this film without success. It should be noted that the use of actual locations with no constructed sets simply added to the realistic feel of the story as it unfolded.
As far as the Motion Picture Academy is concerned, I began ignoring their judgment after they awarded best picture to "The Greatest Show On Earth" back in the 50's.
I'm 29 and it's definitely not just a case of being new fashioned. Your instincts are correct. I wish I could go back in time and have a conversation with every academy member who voted this best picture of the year or Friedkin best director, and the script for best adapted screenplay. The only reason I can remotely imagine this film won awards is the same reason the Academy often makes odd choices today, and that's politics.
Peter Bogdonavich directed the most poignant, honest, beautiful, and moving film ever created about what used to be America and the end of it. And he did it in an innovative and symbolic way that gave a lot of love to early American films. There hasn't been a picture like it since. It literally was the last picture show in the way Bogdonavich imagined it. That film should of won best picture, director, and adapted screenplay. But it was a stylistic and artful piece that endeared itself to a small town in Texas. The French Connection was a very straightforward film shot in New York. It's not that simple, but if you've seen the two films you can compare them and understand what I'm talking about. The Last Picture Show should be mentioned in every conversation asking what is the greatest American film of all time, but it's always overlooked.
Kubrick's picture was the only other sensible option which could have won every award on the list, but Kubrick removed himself completely from Hollywood by moving to England, and I doubt anyone in the Academy really wanted to give awards to a film that made a rape look like a ballet.
Strong argument, amitch64. I wish I had seen THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, as many film lovers have heralded it as an American classic. I know two of Bogdanovich's other films, WHAT'S UP, DOC? and PAPER MOON, and they, too, were sterling efforts. Evidently, he lost his way after his big three, and he tumbled down the ladder with the other "Raging Bulls and Easy Riders."
I'm 55 and remember 1971 vividly. Hollywood had been on the wane in the mid-1960's, and was starting to come back with quality films marketed to young adults. The motion picture ratings board was introduced by Jack Valenti in (I believe) 1968, and the following year, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, the first "X" rated major Hollywood film was released (the original ratings, by the way were "G" for general audience, "M" for mature, "R" for restricted, and "X" for "pornographic"). Films like THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, M*A*S*H, SHAFT and THE FRENCH CONNECTION could have been made at no time before. They were among the first American films to use graphic violence, foul language and nudity. American audiences were in shock, but they needed it.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION opened in October, 1971 to a country in the midst of the Vietnam War and a heroin epidemic that was sweeping American cities. This was the first inside look at how a big city narcotics squad operated in an entertainment medium. What was shown on the news every night was the outcome of some large bust or the death of a celebrity or child from a drug overdose; we didn't know how these stories developed, we only saw the outcome. Who really knew how brutal and racist policemen were? What we saw on TV was "Dragnet," "Adam-12" and "Hawaii-50." At the time, the film's documentary feel convinced a lot of people that what they were seeing was real events shot in real time (in some cases, like the Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Station scene they were indeed watching hidden camera action). At my junior high school in Queens, when a detective came to our class to warn of the dangers of narcotics, his first question was, "How many of you have seen the film, THE FRENCH CONNECTION?"
As I'm from New York City, when I saw the film in the Spring of '72, it was like I drifted into the theater to see what I had just left outside the theater.
Through the Fall and Winter, of 1971-72, THE FRENCH CONNECTION was the talk of the town. The real detectives it was based on appeared on "60 Minutes" and "The Merv Griffin Show" as police celebrities. A large heroin ring was smashed the week the film opened. It was a story you couldn't escape.
Of course the film became a victim of its own success as every succeeding cop film and TV shot copied its gritty style. You may be right, THE FRENCH CONNECTION's zeitgeist might have passed, and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE may be the more enduring classics, but if you want to see what 1971 New York looked like, smelled like, sounded like, watch THE FRENCH CONNECTION.
Hey thanks for that perspective about what surrounded the picture during the time it was made. I always try to think about the historical context of what was going on when different movies are made, but of course it's hard sometimes because I wasn't there. By the time I got around to seeing The French connection, I'd already seen other great New York movies made during the period like said picture Midnight Cowboy, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Panic in Needle Park, Taxi Driver, etc. and liked all those much better. Of course most of those came after The French Connection had already been introduced to audiences. I'll probably go back and revisit The French Connection now that I've thought about that.
shareGee, I really don't know if you'll get the film better on a second viewing than the first. There are no hidden meanings to the film and the action is relatively straight forward. It's kind of like a silent film, you just let it wash over you and surrender to the experience.
It may help to know that it's based on real people and true events, but that will only take you so far. I think I have an idea for you, there's a 1970's cop film I just re-visited and it's a great under appreciated piece of work. It's called THE NEW CENTURIONS, starring George C. Scott and Stacy Keach. You might want to take a look at that one. It's more of a character study of cops than THE FRENCH CONNECTION, also with a very realistic account of life on the streets in 1970s Los Angeles.
I guess maybe if you've a mind to, you should re-watch this film at some point, if for other reason than to appreciate the work Gene Hackman puts into it. What seems like a broad performance is actually loaded with character subtlety and great physicality.
Though the The French Connection doesn't have any hidden meanings, it is ambiguous. I was struck by the fact that Popeye acts out of frustration and anger which puts other people at risk and the end titles tells us the man he was pursuing was never caught, and the others involved were given commuted sentences or released. One may ask; Was anything really accomplished? The ending suggests that Popeye is just shooting at anything after having accidently shot one of his own. It's view of policemen/detectives is not necessarily one of admiration. It's far grittier and interesting than The New Centurions which feels like a couple of segments of TV show were strung together. Except for some of the language and situations, it feels like Adam 12.
French Connection 7/10
The New Centurions 3/10
The absence of good guys is what makes this film all the more interesting to watch. Everyone is just a varying shade of bad. Personally, I found Popeye to be merely annoying until until his shockingly callous reaction to accidentally killing a colleague. Made me indulge a bit of schadenfreude to see that all that his destructive efforts had been for naught at the end. So incompetent yet so cocksure.
shareGosh, is it boring. Didn't know and can't believe it won over Last Picture Show.
shareThe first time I saw it, I was watching it at a friend's house, and it bored me so much that I fell asleep - it must have been in the late 1970s.
I have just now watched it for the second time, almost forty years later. I didn't get it at all - I found it utterly confusing - that is, until about 60.4 minutes in, after Doyle says "Can I get a grape drink?".
Only after this did it become entertaining and begin to make any sense (from where Doyle chases Charnier on and off the train several times, Charnier cleverly giving Doyle the slip).
The rest of the film is okay, but nowhere near Academy Award material.
By the way, if age matters, I'm now in my mid-seventies.
Ignore Twitter’s incessant, mindless chatter.
LMAO!
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I'm not sure care much about the gritty realism of 70s either but this film has a great feel of place and time. You can almost smell and taste the New York of '71.
shareIt's really an action film, making it something of an anomaly among films that won the Oscar for best picture. The cinematography, editing, location shooting and the chase make the film. Though its view of the lead character is certainly ambiguous as is the ending, the film is really one long pursuit; it has no depth. In 1971, it was a favorite of audiences, critics and the Academy alike.
shareIt's a great movie. That being said... this movie came out the same year as A Clockwork Orange.
Now, call me crazy, but I'm fairly sure that from the direction, to the writing, editing, and acting, A Clockwork Orange was not only far superior, but also set standards for A PLETHORA of techniques used today. I wouldn't object to this movie stealing one or two at most from Clockwork, but every award it deserved, that's just idiotic.
I'm a huge A CLOCKWORK ORANGE fan, but there is not one sequence in that film that is better directed than the classic car chase in THE FRENCH CONNECTION (nor would I say even better than the scene where Doyle follows Rey into the subway). I saw a screening with Friedkin the other night where he broke down every shot in the car chase and it was amazing to see how it was constructed - and with so little resources. THE FRENCH CONNECTION was an indie film for it's time. They had no toys like steadicam (wasn't around yet), cranes, camera cars. The entire sequence was done by the seat of their pants and, in my opinion, has only been bettered in another Friedkin film, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. They didn't even have a backup car for the vehicle Hackman drives during the chase. It kept breaking down and having to get repaired on set.
shareGreat insight, TornSprocket. As to the car constantly breaking down, it was a brand new Pontiac Lemans; I wonder if the repair costs came under waranty.
shareConsidering that several of the stunt vehicles accidentally smashed into it, when they were supposed to be avoiding it, I highly doubt it.
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