Justice must be done.
Directed by: Cédric Jimenez
Writers: Audrey Diwan, Cédric Jimenez
Cast: Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Céline Sallette
Swift shot: Full disclosure, I have never seen the classic The French Connection, but I understand it is a quickly paced shoot-em-up featuring detective Popeye Doyle (Gene “The Marine” Hackman) and how he thwarts an international drug ring out of Paris circa the ’70s. The Connection is the recent French version, based on real life detective, Pierre Michel (Dujardin). There is a very European pace to this version, and because it is subtitled, it becomes a bit tricky to keep up. But, I managed.
Pierre is a family man, with some past scars from a gambling addiction. His ability to connect with the pain and struggle of his juvenile suspects makes him a very effective police officer. Because he is so good at what he does, he receives a promotion to Organized Crime, where he quickly makes his mark as a no-shit kind of cop, a guy who puts his job to protect and serve above everything . . . including his family.
Pierre’s obsession is one Gaëtan ‘Tany’ Zampa (Lellouche), who is the underworld crime boss of “La French” – what we in the states call “The French Connection.” Zampa is a Neapolitan, and is ruthless in his efficiency in dealing with trouble-makers. Rather than pay them off or worry about rats, he rules his mob with exacted, bloody lethality. To cross him is to die. But, there is a soft side to Zampa, he is not without scruples. He doesn’t kill cops, not truly righteous cops, anyway.
The Connection painstakingly lays out case by case being made by Detective Michel as he cuts a swath through the Marseilles heroin machine, beginning in 1975. Years pass as he gets closer to Zampa, but an odd adversarial respect forms between the two rivals. Zampa is clever and cunning, courageous even. And he sees much of himself in Detective Michel. But, as time passes, Zampa begins to appear weak and his rivals are many.
His apparent soft spot for Detective Michel may be his undoing. Or, it may be Michel’s undoing. This is based on actual cases out of Marseilles in the 1970s and 1980s, leading up to the bloody Marseilles Massacre. The violence is handled in a slick, matter-of-fact, European manner. The strength of each character builds the dramatic conclusion to an abrupt end.
This isn’t an American film. This is a film about watching France go through changes, fighting corruption, embracing socialism, and the consequences that each action carries for all the players in the dangerous game of cops and criminals.
It’s a slow build up, but if you can stomach subtitles, and appreciate nuanced dialogs, where more is said in between the lines, The Connection might just sneak up on you as a film you don’t want to miss.
