Air
I usually avoid your Gala Presentations line-up. It's stellar programming, but I know I'll eventually get to see most of those films in theatres, and I'd rather save my money for selections I'll probably never get another chance to see. I made an exception for Cédric Jimenez's The Connection, about the notorious drug trafficking network operating in Europe and North America in the 1970s, and and I'm kicking myself for not attending the actual premiere. Stargazing isn't really my cup of tea, but I'd watch Jean Dujardin shell pistachios in silence for two hours and still consider it the most compelling thing I'd seen all year. Seriously, the man might have the most hard-working eyebrows in contemporary cinema. They are a supporting role unto themselves. So, just this once, I may not have minded the shrieking throngs on the red carpet.
Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche both deliver excellent performances as, respectively, a magistrate and a powerful drug lord. Set in 1970s Marseille, the film is slick and stylish on all fronts (questionable sideburns on all male actors notwithstanding), with a killer soundtrack and an gripping plot that garnered some of the most enthusiastic audience response I witnessed at the festival this year's festival.
There was some dispute between me and my companion as to whether or not The Connection can be considered a remake of William Friedkin’s The French Connection. I lean towards looking at it as a loose remake, rather than a different take on the same story. Dujardin’s magistrate is no Popeye Doyle, but the obsessive cat-and-mouse dynamic between criminal and cop is the cornerstone of both films, and there are other such common elements that make comparisons and references between the two films unavoidable.
PS. I have but one complaint; the most memorable part of the original The French Connection was the chase sequence. You know the one. That chase sequence. Jimenez passes on recreating or refashioning the sequence in his version, and after waiting for it on tenterhooks, I felt a bit let down.
Best,
Nat
