Apparently William Friedkin was convinced that "The French Connection" was headed for disaster all the way through filming. But while conceding that the final result isn't entirely a rout, I would be cautious about the hyperbole that surrounds it.
The best thing about the film is its raw, ravaged look. Everything is eroded, decayed, overused - the cities, the people and - perhaps a point of conjecture - the language that they use. One could go even farther surmise that the formulaic exchanges and clichéd situations that the film portrays are a critique of a worn-out, bankrupt society, but I'm not willing to let Friedkin completely off the hook.
Because as others have pointed out, many of the elements so lauded in "The French Connection" were done earlier - and better - elsewhere. "Bullitt" in particular springs to mind as the model for the slowing-moving, moody European-style of police thriller that concerns itself with more than just the cops-and-robbers merry-go-round (another example would be Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samurai"). But whereas Bullitt's silences and long, atmospheric takes bespeak classical poise and existential angst, TFC's leave me wondering whether it's deliberately scrappy or simply badly edited. In any case, for those who think that the name "The French connection" hints at homage to the nouvelle vague, prepare to be mildly disappointed.
In terms of the acting I must admit that I found Gene Hackman competent and workmanlike: he really knows how to play unpleasant, loudmouthed, belligerent, hard-drinking (insert additional epithets as required) types. But the eulogies heaped on the role seem bizarre considering that you never really get beyond the fact that "Popeye" is a nasty, bigoted gun-happy cop. As for the other "characters" it's difficult to say much; the figures are ciphers and I for one didn't make too much of an emotional investment in what happened to them.
It's probably worth seeing this film for the great footage of New York and the gritty camera-work, but beneath the surface the scaffolding is very bare in terms of plot and characterisation. Incoherent, visually impressive, and unlikeable.
The best thing about the film is its raw, ravaged look. Everything is eroded, decayed, overused - the cities, the people and - perhaps a point of conjecture - the language that they use. One could go even farther surmise that the formulaic exchanges and clichéd situations that the film portrays are a critique of a worn-out, bankrupt society, but I'm not willing to let Friedkin completely off the hook.
Because as others have pointed out, many of the elements so lauded in "The French Connection" were done earlier - and better - elsewhere. "Bullitt" in particular springs to mind as the model for the slowing-moving, moody European-style of police thriller that concerns itself with more than just the cops-and-robbers merry-go-round (another example would be Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samurai"). But whereas Bullitt's silences and long, atmospheric takes bespeak classical poise and existential angst, TFC's leave me wondering whether it's deliberately scrappy or simply badly edited. In any case, for those who think that the name "The French connection" hints at homage to the nouvelle vague, prepare to be mildly disappointed.
In terms of the acting I must admit that I found Gene Hackman competent and workmanlike: he really knows how to play unpleasant, loudmouthed, belligerent, hard-drinking (insert additional epithets as required) types. But the eulogies heaped on the role seem bizarre considering that you never really get beyond the fact that "Popeye" is a nasty, bigoted gun-happy cop. As for the other "characters" it's difficult to say much; the figures are ciphers and I for one didn't make too much of an emotional investment in what happened to them.
It's probably worth seeing this film for the great footage of New York and the gritty camera-work, but beneath the surface the scaffolding is very bare in terms of plot and characterisation. Incoherent, visually impressive, and unlikeable.