Thematic Analysis Of The French Connection
The French Connection was directed in 1971 by William Friedkin. It was an Oscar winning film for its editing, direction and acting. William Friedkin was known as the “epitome of an American auteur in Europe” (Vivarelli).
The film is about the NYPD detectives Popeye Doyle and Cloudy in chase of a French heroin drug dealer, Alain Charnier. The scene is about NYPD detective Popeye in a civilian’s car driving at 90 mph chasing an elevated subway train where the drug suspect Charnier is trying to escape. The scene was illegaly shot because a proper permit was taken for the scene to be shot on the busy streets of the New York, therefore, it looks real. It is also said that the car chase shown in the film is one of the best car chases shown in the American films’ history.
The scene at is a very highlighted scene of the whole film which shows a very brief glimpse of the overall the theme of the film. The police brutality shown in the scene depicts that the detective’s only motive was to catch the suspect and did not care about the citizens. As said by EW Staff the car chase scene was shot illegally and the collision and the side swiping of the bus shown in the scene was a real scene which was shocking to read. The theme of the scene can be taken as a reference to measure the overall intensity of the brutality shown in the film. The scene shows the unexpected truth of the police department where the NYPD detectives are breaking the laws that the public must follow under their surveillance. The drug suspect was a small dealer, you cannot go against the law just to catch him. Todd Berliner said that The French Connection is a genre bending film because it relies on the “habitual responses to generic codes, misleading audiences into expecting conventional outcomes.
The French Connection (1971) exploits spectators”, by which he means to say that it misuses observers and misleading them to see the traditional outcome rather than showing them the actual truth of the overall movie. Though the NYPD is doing the duties that are told to but not by not following the proper orders and rules of the actual cat and mouse chase. The scene clearly shows the misuse of the power by the NYPD to catch their suspect. The scene sets a bad example of the police department to complete their motive. They are going against their motto of the protecting the people by destroying their property and doing the chase on a busy street of New York where it is hard to handle the public.
Overall the film can be seen from both sides a good-and a bad but here it shows how evil the police department is being to catch the bad. Though the scene is one of the best car chase in the history but at the cost of civilian’s the scene shows the carelessness of the police department the overall theme of brutality can be clearly seen in one scene.
