French Connection (The)     

Genre: police drama

With: Gene Hackman (Jimmy ‟Popeye” Doyle), Fernando Rey (Alain Charnier), Roy Scheider (Buddy ‟Cloudy” Russo), Tony Lo Bianco (Sal Boca), Marcel Bozzuffi (Pierre Nicoli), Frédéric de Pasquale (Devereaux), Harold Gary (Weinstock), Arlene Farber (Angie Boca), Benny Marino (Lou Boca), Bill Hickman (Mulderig)

Director: William Friedkin

Screenplay: Ernest Tidyman (based on the book by Robin Moore)

Release: 1971

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox, Philip D’Antoni Productions, Schine-Moore Productions

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.7/10 

 

Who’s the Greater Menace to Society? 

 

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Story-line: in Marseilles, Charnier and Nicoli go about their business endeavours (legal and otherwise) in a calculated and professional manner. An ocean away in the Big Apple, NYPD detectives Doyle and Russo scrape by and scour the streets to make drug busts any way they can. Soon enough, these cold crooks and frantic narcs will be drawn together – albeit on opposite sides of the law – by a high-stakes drug deal logically labelled the ‟French connection”.  

Pluses: mind-blowing performances by Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey and Marcel Bozzuffi, an enthralling screenplay featuring memorable characters, mordant dialogues and non-stop action, virile direction, gritty cinematography in all locales, seamless editing, appropriate production values and an efficient musical score (by Don Ellis) that may have inspired the sinister string flourishes of JAWS a few years later.  

Minuses: whatever happened to that poor guy who lent his car to Popeye Doyle? Sorry I asked!

Comments: in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, an engrossing film even for those of us who have little taste for police dramas, Popeye Doyle attains mythical status as a lonely, driven and pathetic figure, a big-city version of Captain Ahab. From its surprising opening scenes to its breathless chases and stunning ending, William Friedkin’s draining thriller remains a Hollywood classic, having garnered 8 Academy Award nominations and 5 Oscars in 1972 (Writing, Lead Actor, Film Editing, Best Picture and Director). Need I say more?

  

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L.627

Genre: police drama 

With: Didier Bezace (Lucien ‟Lulu” Marguet), Cécile Garcia-Fogel (Kathy, Lulu’s wife), Lara Guirao (Cécile, Lulu’s prostitute friend). The members of Lulu’s narcotics squad are: Jean-Paul Comart (Dodo), Charlotte Kady (Marie), Jean-Roger Milo (Manuel), Nils Tavernier (Vincent) and Philippe Torreton (Antoine)

Director: Bertrand Tavernier

Screenplay: Michel Alexandre and Bertrand Tavernier

Release: 1992

Studio: Canal +, Les Films Alain Sarde, Little Bear et al.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.4/10

  

Of Dope Fiends and Dope Friends 

 

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Story-line: as a narcotics cop, Lulu Marguet doesn’t always follow the rules – hence his transfers from one police unit to another – but he gives his all every time he hits the street. As a private citizen, his life is no less hectic… and worrisome.

Pluses: tour-de-force performances by a charismatic Didier Bezace and an energetic cast, a relentless screenplay loaded with colourful characters and revealing dialogues, vigorous direction by one of France’s most important filmmakers, tight editing, eye-popping cinematography and a frenetic, original-sounding musical score.

Minuses: so you won’t be confused by the rapid stream of characters early on, here are a few pointers: (a) in the first act, the story focuses on Lulu and a bunch of bit players; (b) Cécile and Kathy, seen very briefly in the first act, will be featured more prominently as the story develops; (c) the narcotics squad comes in at around the 30-minute mark. Be advised that this film contains several scenes of police brutality (regrettable but apparently unavoidable) and gut-wrenching action.  

Comments: L.627 was a section of the French Public Health Code that outlawed drug trafficking and other related offences and, according to the screenplay, suspects accused of such offences were submitted to medical monitoring for 24 hours after their arrest. These are just a couple of the many insights to be gained from this hyperactive, adrenalin-pumping movie about police work in the City of Lights. Like his colleagues on the squad, Lulu has to deal with informants, exhausting shifts, drawn-out stakeouts, administrative incompetence, brushes with hardened criminals and a tattered private life. Sounds unpromising? Not so for Bertrand Tavernier (1941-2021), who has painted a riveting and ultimately endearing portrait of one basically good human being facing mayhem each and every day. And it’s quite a feat, actually. 

 

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