I had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to write this post, because William Friedkin is one of those directors who has made some iconic films, but I think I'd keep my distance if I ever met him in real life. He was an intense, sometimes maniacal artist by many accounts, a rule breaker and a risk taker who went to dangerous extremes to get what he wanted. Some of his films would have been very different if he hadn't directed them - much safer, less shocking, and less impactful. He wasn't afraid of controversial subjects like homosexuality, blowback from institutions like the Catholic Church, or an NC-17 rating.
And then it happened. Last year we got disturbing reports that many online copies of "The French Connection," the Best Picture winner of 1971, had been clumsily edited to remove two racial slurs. The dialogue isn't important to the plot, but it is important to the whole tone and verve of the picture. "The French Connection" is a suspenseful crime thriller about a racist, alcoholic, deeply unpleasant NYPD detective named Popeye Doyle, played by Gene Hackman in a porkpie hat, trying to break up a ring of French drug smugglers. It's probably best known for the spectacular chase sequence where Doyle follows his suspects in an elevated train by car, which cinematographer Owen Roizman notoriously filmed parts of in real Brooklyn traffic.
The first time I watched "The French Connection" was about twenty years ago on DVD, and I wasn't too impressed. By then the film was noticeably showing its age and I found the sequence of events difficult to follow. However, everything clicked for me when I watched the film a second time with Friedkin's commentary, which explained how the events were based on real drug smuggling cases, and highlighted the impressive amount of detail that went into every frame. Friedkin began his career as a documentary filmmaker, and his work reflected what he observed in real life. Popeye Doyle was a racist because the detectives in that era were often racists, and Friedkin saw no reason to whitewash this truth.
Of course, Doyle is more than this. He's such a memorable figure, because he's so different from the portrayal of police officers we usually saw onscreen in the '60s. As a detective, Doyle is not particularly smart, and he's certainly not noble, but he's doggedly fixated on getting the job done and will employ any means necessary to get his man. He'll break the rules, employ unnecessary brutality, and endanger innocent lives without hesitation. Like Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry who debuted the same year, Doyle is comfortable working outside the system and can be characterized as an anti-hero. The difference, however, is that Doyle isn't cool, isn't ever framed as admirable, and exists in a much closer approximation of reality where his recklessness has more consequences. I don't know if Doyle is how William Friedkin saw himself as a director, but the parallels are undeniable.
The film's ending also reflects Friedkin's commitment to realism. The drugs are discovered but the mastermind Charnier gets away. Doyle is transferred out of narcotics. The various criminals arrested during the film receive different fates, seemingly at random. Some serve time in prison while there's not enough evidence to charge the others. I didn't seek out the sequel, "French Connection II" for a long time because it changed the fates of Doyle and Charnier to conform to the more typical outcomes we'd expect in a cops-and-robbers story.
As for William Friedkin, the success of "The French Connection" gave him the clout he needed to make his next picture, "The Exorcist" with the amount of creative freedom necessary to really shake up the status quo. I'd have written this entry about "The Exorcist," but my superstitious mother would never forgive me. Friedkin's run of commercial successes was short lived, but he continued to push boundaries for the rest of his career, and his influence on the filmmaking profession remains considerable. It's sort of fitting he died right after the censorship of "The French Connection" was discovered last summer, his work becoming a focal point of controversy yet again.
What I've Seen - William Friedkin
The Boys in the Band (1970)
The French Connection (1971)
The Exorcist (1973)
Sorcerer (1977)
The Brink's Job (1978)
Cruising (1980)
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Bug (2006)
Killer Joe (2011)
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
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