LA FRENCH/THE CONNECTION
France, 2015, 135 minutes, Colour.
Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Celine Sallette, Melanie Doutey, Benoit Magimel.
Directed by Cedric Jimenez.
William Friedkin’s 1971 film, The French Connection, was an Oscar winner and has become something of a cult police thriller dealing with issues of drugs.
The story and the American film form the background of this French thriller, portraying a French syndicate, La French/ The Connection, operating in Marseille from the mid 1970s into the 1980s. It shows the syndicate at work, the laboratories for preparing the drugs, the deals, haggling about prices, smuggling into the United States with drugs hidden in vans, the wealthy way of life of those in charge, the henchmen and their work, pressure from police investigations.
This is also the story of the work of the police, focusing on Pierre Michel, played with authority by Oscar-winner (The Artist) Jean Dujardin. He worked with juvenile crime and drug addiction but was promoted as a magistrate to head the squad for pursuing the drug dealers, something he did with integrity, coming from an office into the field, learning as he went, shrewd in getting information and making connections, organising his squad to make a variety of raids, sometimes destroying laboratories, sometimes arresting criminals.
The screenplay builds the contrast between Pierre Michel and the leader of the syndicate, played by Gilles Lellouche, a Neapolitan working in Marseille. The screenplay make something of a parallel between the two men and their home lives, their devotion to their wives and families.
The film offers a lot of detail of police work, and while there are action sequences, chases and shootouts, the film is more of a drama rather than a thriller.
The film ends sadly with the assassination of Pierre Michel who had promised the new minister in the Mitterand government to give him headlines with a breakthrough against the syndicate. He does get the headlines when the boss is arrested.
An interesting look, French style, at familiar material, but based on fact.
1. 21st century French thriller? Retrospect on the 1970s and 1980s?
2. The historical background, drugs in Marseille in the 1970s and 1980s, the French and Italian criminals, their connections, heroin from Turkey, processing in Marseille, shipments to the United States, the connections with the US? French police, investigations, political concern?
3. Audience familiarity with the film, The French Connection, giving a background for this film?
4. The location photography, the city of Marseille, the Mediterranean, the buildings and landmarks, the beaches, restaurants and clubs, homes, police precincts, locations outside the city, buildings and laboratories? An authentic feel? Musical score?
5. The opening, the car pursuit, the shootings? The background to drug lords, the influence, their violence, the expansion of their empires, the workforce and the pressures?
6. The introduction to Pierre Michel? Working with juveniles, the interview with the girl addict, her arms, his threats, wanting the information about the boss? Her later return, giving the information, Pierre’s visit to her mother, the news of her death and the overdose? Murder?
7. Pierre Michel, as a character, his work with juveniles, the interview with the chief, his promotion? Meeting his associates, listening to them, their being practical, he being an office man, learning? The collaborations over the years? His reliance on them? Their admiration for him? Their celebratory parties?
8. Pierre, his wife, children, the many domestic scenes, balancing his police work? The tensions for his wife, her sometime desperation, wanting to leave, the phone call and his plea? Her supporting him? Her fears? Her apprehension when he was shot, running down the hill, her grief? The funeral? The effect on the children?
9. Pierre, talking to the girl about addiction, his own gambling addiction, able to reform? Yet its hold on him with his compulsion to catch the criminals, his obsession with being present, with his job? At the risk of losing wife and family?
10. The introduction to the drug lord? His Neapolitan background? His wife, his devotion to her, something of a parallel with Pierre and his wife? The happy scenes together, the cake for the anniversary, getting the Krypton club? Her standing by him? Her watching his arrest?
11. The workings of the drug syndicate, the boss and his meeting with those wanting to invest, the chemist, the laboratories, the raids, starting again? The American connections, the vans filled with drugs? The discussions about prices, compared with drugs from Turkey?
12. The characters of the various members of the drug syndicate, lieutenants, their advice, the loyalties, thugs and killings, the risk of informants, the years passing, prosperity? Da Costa and his role, his devotion to Dora, the information for the police, the siege of the house, the taking of the lab, the drugs, his being cuffed, interrogated, Dora persuading him to give information, the promise of protection?
13. The years passing, the work of the police, gathering information, the files, the various raids, Pierre and his growing into the job? The collaboration with the local police – and their lack of cooperation, connections with the dealers, his being taken off the case?
14. The change of government, President Mitterand, his officials, Pierre going to see the Minister, promising headlines, his being put back on the case?
15. The boss, the chance encounter with Pierre, the plan for Pierre’s death, the cycle rider, the shooting?
16. The film as a tribute to the police, to Pierre, his dedication, and the smashing of this drug ring, with collaboration from the Americans, Pierre going to the United States, the DEA?
17. A fast-paced action film, drama rather than thriller, the focus on investigation?
