| Overall Grade: |
A |
|
| Story: |
N/A |
|
|
| Acting: |
N/A |
|
|
| Direction: |
N/A |
|
|
| Visuals: |
N/A |
|
|
Friedkin's finest work.
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Mar 27, 2006
8
of
8 people found this review helpful
Two Friedkin films in one week. I'm beginning to see a pattern with his work...he doesn't much care for cops.
The French Connection, his finest work, is about two vice-squad detectives: Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo. They've been trying to break up a heroin ring in New York, and they aren't doing a very good job at it.
After a particularly bad day (which ends with Russo getting stabbed in the arm), they head for a bar. They see a young man spending money like no tomorrow. They follow him home. His name is Sal, and he runs a small store. Hmmm...where'd the money come from? They're able to start an investigation, with the help of the Feds. This will lead them to the French connection.
Two things stand out in this film. First and foremost is the terrific cinematography, which makes New York City come alive. You can feel the rough sidewalks beneath your feet, taste the cold air, smell the...uh, anyway. It's fine realism (which is not surprising. This guy re-made The Wages of Fear. I bet he's a big Vittorio de Sica fan, too).
The other standout moment of this film is the famous chase. It's one of the greatest ever committed to film (the other is from the Friedkin-directed To Live and Die in L.A., proving that he really knows his chase scenes). It begins on foot and progresses to car vs. elevated train...pure magic.
But let me get back to my first point about Friedkin. Along with this film, I recently reviewed Cruising, which portrayed many of the cops as dirty, corrupt bastards. And here, we have two cops tracking down drug dealers, and Popeye is only marginally better than the people they arrest. He is cold, quick to use violence, self-centered, alcoholic, womanizing and a bit corrupt as well. he doesn't play by anyone's rules but his own. Furthermore, he may have been responsible for at least one cop's death (as mentioned by a Fed), and will be responsible for another later in the film.
But seriously, I supposed Friedkin is portraying humanity in general as not so black and white. In others, go back to that realism. If you spend enough time busting low lifes, you become disgusted, and root in the sewer with them. Besides, reality is never black and white.
Anyway, Popeye is an interesting character. He is very dedicated to his job. He just has a different set of standards. The job at hand takes precedence over the safety of others, be they bystanders or his own partner.
The car chase alone makes this film worth seeing, but the hunt itself is no less interesting. This film stands as a great work of realist art, suspense and action. |
My Public Profile 
