The French Connection Hello

In 1971, William Friedkin and Gene Hackman launched a wildly influential genre with The French Connection. It was the first of many films to depict a lawman bent on doing his job with little regard for how others see or feel about him.

The film starred Gene Hackman as Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, and Roy Scheider as his partner, Buddy “Cloudy” Russo. They stumbled upon a hefty shipment of heroin that led them to wealthy French drug dealer Alain Charnier.

While this isn't an especially subtle film, it does make some interesting points about the state of law enforcement in the early 1970s. The country has just started to see the rise of drugs as a serious problem, and President Nixon has declared war on them with a full arsenal of weapons.

As a result, trust has been lost, and the country is on the brink of paranoia. A burgeoning cocaine trade means that the police are now tasked with hunting down a wide range of dangerous and unreliable suspects.

One of the most enduring aspects of The french connection fact or fiction Connection is its car chases. These scenes are the movie's singular metier, occupying most of its screen time and putting an intense spin on the procedural nature of the police work it presents.

Rather than brace the suspects for interrogation, or even interview them formally, the cops walk, run, drive, stake out, ride subways, and generally tail their quarry. This is the kind of police work that's rarely seen in contemporary cop/action movies, a practice that's rooted in the fact that the people on the street can't be trusted and are essentially nothing more than a nuisance to police.

If we consider these scenes in the context of their times, they're not only a satirical comment on the way that crime is treated, but they're also a social critique of American society. From the sniper assassin on the platform to the terrified citizens on a runaway train, The French Connection's signature car-versus-train chase is a perfect metaphor for a society in crisis.

What's more, these chases are often violent, and in a very real sense, they serve as the ultimate symbol of the raging drug problem in the country. The scene where a policeman shoots a man in the street for smoking marijuana is as powerful as any action sequence ever put on screen, and it’s the kind of thing that would get audiences talking about law enforcement for years to come.

In addition to its car chases, The French Connection is known for its tense heist sequences as well. The heist on Ward's Island is particularly memorable, and it features one of the most iconic moments in cinema history.

This is a film that has endured for decades not just because of its excellent cinematography, but also because of its sly, politically charged critique on the state of crime and law enforcement in the United States. It’s an important film in the neo-noir genre, and it still holds up as an enduring classic today.