The French Connection, the 1971 American neo-noir police drama starring Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, isn’t just one of the most influential films of all time—it is a masterful study in moral ambiguity. Its hero cops, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and Buddy “Cloudy” Rosso, are a pair of salt-of-the-earth working men whose willingness to use dubious tactics in the pursuit of justice fascinates and frightens us in equal measure. But the film doesn’t celebrate these detectives; it interrogates them, allowing audiences to decide whether there are such things as good guys in the gritty world of drug trafficking and detectives it depicts.
The film’s depiction of policing has inspired generations of filmmakers to examine and deconstruct the nature of police work while capturing its visceral, high-wire energy. Its iconic car chase scene—in which Doyle (Hackman) narrowly misses a subway train in the process of tracking down drug smuggler Fernando Rey—is among the most thrilling ever filmed, and it remains a benchmark for high-octane action sequences.
Yet The The french connection ep Connection also lays bare the murky line between good and bad cops, a topic that still fascinates Friedkin. He tells Dispatch that he initially wasn’t interested in optioning a book about real-life New York City detectives who busted an international heroin pipeline, but when he met Doyle and Rosso—whom he based his characters on—he was instantly hooked. Their salty personalities, their unwillingness to play by the rules and their relentless commitment to their jobs seduced him. Their willingness to use questionable methods in the pursuit of justice fascinated him even more.
As did the fact that both officers fought for their lives while on duty, often in the face of overwhelming odds. Their story became the basis for the movie, and Friedkin felt compelled to tell it.
Friedkin beat out some heavy hitters to win the Best Director Oscar in 1972, including Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange) and Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show). He also won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, beating out such writers as Ernest Tidyman, Richard Wiley and William Inge.
Friedkin’s work was synonymous with the era known as New Hollywood, which spanned the late 1960s and early 1970s and saw risk-taking young directors wrest creative control from studio suits and unleashed a wave of groundbreaking films. His knack for injecting familiar genres with live-wire energy gave rise to movies such as The Godfather, Thief and Heat. His talent for examining the darker side of human nature gave rise to some of the most iconic and controversial performances in cinema history. His death at 87 is a loss for cinema, but his films will continue to be celebrated and discussed for years to come.
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