The Connection

Amazing film. A slow burner for sure with amazing performance from Jean Dujardin. The film is well worth watching. Called Le French in the main titles.... With English subtitles to say The Connection. Why didn't they just call it The French!?!? If you've seen the old film The French connection then you have an idea of the basic plot as it's based on the the same thing. Absolutely love Dujardin's films.

Pierre Michel is recruited as the new magistrate for the city of Marseille where he is tasked with taking down Gaetan Zampa, a man deemed to be untouchable who controls the French Connection, a highly organised operation that controls the import and export of heroin into the city. Pierre is a different man to those who have held his position previously as he takes every ruthless and dangerous criminal head on to get to the man at the top and destroy his organisation forever. The Connection tells a similar story to the old Gene Hackman movie The French Connection but from the opposing side of the same drugs network. This is a very different film from Hackman's movie though. This I felt was done more in the style of Heat and even has a scene where the opposing forces of Pierre Michel and Gaetan Zampa meet on a hillside to scope each other out. Jean Dujardin who plays Pierre and Gilles Lellouche who plays Gaetan were both superb in their roles, matching each other's intensity on screen and giving the audience a real battle of wills between the two men. Overall, a very entertaining and well playing period crime thriller.

Generally an ok watch. When you put it side by side with it's 70's counterpart it loses on all counts. The comparison could never be avoided. The large gaps in time are not handled at all, suddenly it's years later. The political corruption presumably a key factor for the continued 'French connection' is heavily implied but not investigated, but the leaving party of a retiring cop for example, gets the full treatment. The acting of the cop and the criminal leads are uninspiring, predictable and the characters rendered 1-dimensional. Emotions are stock and contrived. A complex story again fails to be represented in film adequately due to the lack of imagination and craftsmenship of the director and writers, the producers either taking a back seat or conversely had far too much influence.

Excellent cover story of a real life tale of High level corruption and underworld. The film is very well build well directed and extremely well acted. It is well documented and quite close to the true life story for I do remember seeing the pictures of Juge Michel assassinated on his motorbike and that it was the big story of the time, all highjacked by the then interior minister and his corrupt friends. Deferre was really rotten and it is quite bold from Jimenez to have stayed true to the real life story and pointed the finger of shame on the whole governing bodies of that Marseille era.

the item is in french

A thriller that does not waste a frame. Hard edged and completely realistic ( as most French thrillers are). Superb acting and direction.

1975. Marseille. A magistrate, Pierre Michel, is transferred from juvenile cases to the organised crime unit, in the hope that his winning formula can be used to greater effect against the scourge of smack that is flooding France and America. With a big bust (see the film: The French Connection) in New York bringing pressure and untold media attention, he sets about bringing down what appears to be the man behind the operation 'Tany' Zampa.. However Zampa is a ruthless bastard who is embroiled in his own power struggle and gang war, and is busy trying to maintain his empire. Needless to say that he doesn't take too kindly to the interferences of some Eliot Ness wannabe. And the more Michel digs and uncovers, the more dirt he finds, especially concerning those supposedly on the his side... Not a bad effort this, I enjoyed it. Nice 70s vibes, interspersed with people getting whacked willy nilly.. The cast are spot on the money (principally led by Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche - who look quite similar - as the good and bad guy) and although it packs in a story spanning six or seven years the pace of the film holds up very well. Adding a French flip side, if you would, to what was happening across the Atlantic after/during the whole 'French Connection' bust in America. So those who liked the 1971 film or indeed if you have an interest in French crime cinema, you should be in your element. Plus the scenery is very pretty, with all the aquamarine coastline and stuff. 3.75/5

Set in Marseille at the other end of the French Connection an enterprising judge faces off with an enterprising Neapolitan running the local drugs business. The physical similarities between the two opponents models their methods. In hunting the drug gang the magistrate raids first and drafts the warrant later. Hardly surprising that the whole process is put into danger by crooked cops and dodgy politicians. There is an undoubted Seventies look to the film but the all too accurate cynical finish belongs to a later date.