Chasing the Train.

From the deranged brain of William Friedkin comes one of the best alternative Christmas films ever made alongside classics like Die Hard and Batman Returns to more recent fare such as Sean Baker’s Tangerine and The Green Knight from David Lowery.

Author

Tyler Clark
May 15, 2023

Good morning Consumers. Good morning Consumers, This is Please Consume, the newsletter that loves the Godfather and Fast Five equally.

French Connection (1971)

From the deranged brain of William Friedkin comes one of the best alternative Christmas films ever made alongside classics like Die Hard and Batman Returns to more recent fare such as Sean Baker’s Tangerine and The Green Knight from David Lowery.

Even more, than being a great Christmas movie, it’s incredibly difficult to talk about the history of car chases on film without discussing The French Connection.

The film is a fairly standard crime story - Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider gotta stop a French heroin homie - but where it really shines is in its iconic car chase. So let’s talk about it.

70s Stardom

One of the best things about the 70s era of movie stars is that the look and vibe they had was so unique.

This was an era when your movie stars looked like they worked at the deli counter at your favorite spot to get a reuben. Think about the stars of the time: DeNiro, Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, Walter Matthau, the list goes on.

But did any of those guys reach the incredible vibe level of starting their own cottage industries business? I guess that’s what makes Gene Hackman Gene Hackman.

It’s easy to forget, but the Hackman thriller was a real thing back in the day, from Night Moves and The Conversation to Mississippi Burning and The Firm. Hackman was, and in our opinion will forever be, the king of the thriller.

Filmmaking for Maniacs

As said before, this scene is downright infamous, not only for its heart-pounding excitement but also for its incredibly unconventional filming style.

The scene was shot in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and spanned 26 blocks. The production didn’t have permits to shoot in that area, but Friedkin didn’t care, and so they did it guerilla style. Hackman drove through the streets like a maniac and the stunt team/camera departments tried to keep up.

The car wrecks you see were not planned. They were stunts gone wrong and near misses that missed being misses.

And the people walking in the background aren’t actors, they’re just New Yorkers going about their days.

It’s crazy to think this actually happened and frankly kind of irresponsible that we’ve canonized it, but in all fairness Friedkin admitted his fault in a 2021 interview he and Gene Hackman gave with the New York Times:

“I was like Captain Ahab pursuing the whale. [I had] a supreme confidence, a kind of sleepwalker's assurance. As successful as the film was, I wouldn't do that now. I had put people's lives in danger.”

Today’s Scene

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If you would like to watch French Connection at home, you can find it here.

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