THE FRENCH CONNECTION’S Big Car Chase Still Has Drive
The centerpiece scene of this early 70’s classic still rocks, thanks to the power of drama through action!
Ever since I've made the call to turn this primarily into a space for film discussion a couple of years ago, I've had one constant presence in the comments: a guy I know named Tony, an old colleague from my theatre-doing days, who I remember fifteen or so years ago taking over a Wednesday evening acting class for a few weeks, one that was usually ran by the recently-deceased Edward Claudio (who, if you're not from the area, should be said was a legitimate Sacramento theatre legend that will not be easily replaced, if at all), and used the class as his pulpit for his sermon on acting in film.
I learned a lot from this version of the class (including the realization that I shouldn't act on film). I especially remember Tony walking us through his journey towards realizing the power that great movies can offer a person. As the story went, he was a huge aficionado of stuff like the James Bond series as a lad. That is, until stuff like THE GRADUATE, THE GODFATHER I and II, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON started coming out, and it changed his life forever (the movie that served as the specific turning point eludes me, although I want to say it was THE GODFATHER. Correct me, Tony?). To this day, he will happily tell you that the greatest time in American film history was approximately 1967 through 1980, before the JAWS and STAR WARS-ification of Hollywood ended the party forever. Seriously, you'll have a chance to right after you're done with this.
Well, never let it be said that Ryan Ritter doesn't pander to his audience.
February is going to be 70's New Hollywood Month in this here space!
I might be stretching the definition just a bit with one of the choices but, just like French New Wave Month, the only real criteria is that a) it was made and released during a loosely defined period and b) I haven't seen it. Since I arbitrarily drew a line at pre-1970's stuff, that will mean no GRADUATE or BONNIE AND CLYDE, and I've already seen many of the huge hitters (no GODFATHER, THE CONVERSATION or DOG DAY AFTERNOON, and stuff like TAXI DRIVER has already been covered in this space).
But, also like last month, you're still going to be stunned at the stuff I haven't gotten around to. Let's get started with an immediate huge one, a movie that made a huge splash at the 1972 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. A movie whose name you already know from reading the title and clicking on the article, throwing the wisdom of adding an air of mystery to this intro into question....
Let's do THE FRENCH CONNECTION.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
Written by: Ernest Tidyman
Released: October 7, 1971
Length: 104 minutes
I suspect at times that people nowadays view American movies from the 70's with some apprehension, maybe due to it being a particularly favorite time period and genre of....well, "film snobs". "If the guy shitting on me for liking Marvel movies are into it," the thought might go, "it must be pretentious and boring".
But, really, a lot of the really famous ones aren'tpretentious or even particularly esoteric at all? Take THE FRENCH CONNECTION, a movie that I think has honestly aged very little, all things considered. The only thing that may have atrophied over the decades might be people's appetite for rogue "bad cops" nowadays (although I guess we'll see if that truly lasts). But, besides that, this movie really is just a well-made crime action thriller. There are gun shootouts, car chases, drug smuggling, and boozing, womanizing cops and criminals all the way through. Y'know, the good stuff.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION is the story of a New York City detective, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman), and his partner, Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Scheider), who get tipped off on a huge shipment of drugs being brought into the city in the next couple of weeks. From there, it's a race to track down drug lord Alain Charnier (Rey) before he's able to complete his evil transaction.
It's a movie refreshingly light on backstory or deep character arcs; Doyle does have a story and record to him, and it's significant enough that you completely understand why other cops and superiors are reluctant to trust his instincts on this particular case. But that context is relegated to just a couple of quick lines from other characters; it's not particularly expounded on, and we certainly don't cut away to any flashbacks fleshing things out. That would slow down the action, my friend, and THE FRENCH CONNECTION don't got time for that.
The only thing that might be objectionable to modern viewers might be its pace. Hard as it might be for those who were there at the time to believe, I have no trouble imagining someone walking away from THE FRENCH CONNECTION complaining that it's too slow. And who am I to argue? In the fifty years since its release, action films have gotten impossibly big and fast. Call it the "FAST AND FURIOUS effect"; even that street-racing franchise has morphed over the past decade into essentially MEATHEAD AVENGERS, with car chases that have expanded exponentially in scope with the assistance of CGI and characters now literally going into space.
NOTE: I actually generally love the FAST AND FURIOUS movies; I think beyond all the blatant pro-wrestling-esque stupidity and dumb drama between Vin Diesel and The Rock lies a set of generally well-crafted and well-cast summer movies. They're not all created equally, and I think they've gotten so big that there's nowhere for them to go now, but I need it established that I'm no hater. This isn't Old Man Ryan here. Just that I think once you start overstimulating an audience, it's hard to crank down the dial.
But instead of focusing on the pace of the action, I'd urge a new viewer to instead focus on the craft of it. Because, honestly, once you focus in on it, suddenly its Oscars pedigree becomes pretty clear and justified. THE FRENCH CONNECTION is the kind of movie that should win Best Picture more often, to be frank. Instead of winning its gold with its social themes or huge performances, it does it by knowing exactly how to draw every inch of drama and suspense out of a given situation.
To show what I mean, let's focus on the most famous scene, that car-train chase. Give it a watch if you've never seen it.
It goes without saying, but one of the best things about it is that they didn't have the advantage of computers. Again, I know that's another old-man complaint, and CGI does present other opportunities. But what scenes like this gain from its absence is that, to some degree, what you're seeing is real. Real in a fake movie way, yes, but some human had to strap a camera to a car to achieve that slightly vertigo-inducing weaving through lanes.
But, let's take a look at how the scene builds suspense (Note: to some degree, I'm cribbing my observations about action from an incredible article from Film Crit Hulk, who broke down what makes the action in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT work so well. As always, I'm begging you to leave this dumb article to read another, better article. The choice is yours).
Everything seems to flow logically from what's been set up previously, including the fact that Doyle is in many ways a desperate man whose reputation is on the line with this hunch that he's following. From the very start where Doyle commandeers a civilian's car (one of those things I've only ever seen happen in the movies; is this a real thing?) to the end where a hitman ends up dead on the steps of a train station, the whole thing plays out like a short film. Every time it seems like Doyle has a plan of execution to capture an assassin who has hopped on a train to get away, "Frog Two" (the assassin Doyle is chasing, played by Marcel Bozzuffi) manages to get a leg up on him. Doyle runs over to the next station, only to learn that "Frog Two" has commandeered the train and is blowing past all scheduled stops. He has to hustle and play catch-up again.
The problem with commandeering the train, however, is that the train conductor turns out to have a weak heart and panics easily. His response to having a gun repeatedly pointed at his head? He passes out and collapses onto the control panel. The train is now going way too fast with no way to fix it. Now "Frog Two" is in trouble. Now what?
All the while, we get these fast-moving POV shots, from the perspective of either the front of the train or the front of Doyle's stolen car. We're moving forward, always. It doesn't hurt that there are several moments where cars collide in ways that weren't anticipated, even by the film crew. The story of the action is meticulously planned out, but there's an improvisational feel to what actually happens. The result is something that feels just out of control enough (especially a moment where Doyle damn near runs over a woman). It all culminates in a moment that even the police officers on retainer as advisers to the film balked at, claiming it's something that no cop would ever do and claim as an act of self-defense. You watch it and tell me if it even registers as anything to you.
But notice how, throughout the whole thing, which of the two have the leg up constantly changes. It feels for all the world like both the pursued and the pursuer are making it up as they go along, a far cry from the modern "hero and criminal" dynamic in films nowadays, where one always seems to have a master plan that no normal human being could have possibly come up with on their own and failsafes for snags that nobody could anticipate. Adding to all that is the fact that "Frog Two" is established as legitimately dangerous; he shows no issue with killing law enforcement in cold blood, putting the safety of the civilians in real question.
For all intents and purposes, THE FRENCH CONNECTION's signature action sequence stars two characters who don't have a clue what the fuck they're doing. And that's why it's so fun to watch.
There are other scenes that are just as well-written and crafted; for as much fame as the car chase has gotten, my favorite scene in the movie might actually be Doyle tailing Charnier into the subway. Without really any lines of dialogue, we get what amounts to a complete story from start to finish. You can just feel the wheels turning inside both character's heads, and it's really and truly captivating to watch the power dynamic shift every second between the two. It all culminates in a great little "farewell" moment from Fernando Rey, a moment that pays off in such a satisfying way at the end of the film.
That's really the secret to making an action movie that endures; not necessarily an increase in the scale, but a laser focus on the drama and conflict within it. Hell, going back to the FAST AND FURIOUS example, it's no secret that the best ones of that series (for my money: 2, 5, 6) understand that better than the worst ones (for the rest of my money: 4 and 8). And William Friedkin (who, ironically, would go on two years later to arguably usher in the beginning of the eventual blockbuster culture with THE EXORCIST) and the rest of his creative team knew that intimately with THE FRENCH CONNECTION.
And so, it got rewarded at Oscars night, and it's well deserved, winning Best Picture over FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. Stiff competition, but it's hard to argue against. There's always this backlash against the Oscars as this bastion of rewarding "artsy" movies, ignoring movies loved by the general populace. Well, that may actually be accurate. BUT, the 1972 Oscars are proof positive that there was a time when action movies could win the top prize over "arty" films.
They just need to be made....well, artfully.
Scale is relative, drama is forever.