The French Connection story
The French Connection is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey. The screenplay, by Ernest Tidyman, is based on Robin Moore's 1969 book of the same name about narcotics detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. It tells the story of their fictional counterparts, New York Police Department detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, in pursuit of wealthy French heroin smuggler Alain Charnier (played by Rey).
12 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| illegal drug trade | choice | The story concerns American police detectives trying to catch a French and an American crime syndicate in the act of illegally trading heroin. The title is a reference to the real life drug smuggling scheme of the same name. |
| anger | major | Popeye was notoriously hot-headed and short-tempered. |
| law enforcement | major | The story concerns American police officers trying to catch a French and an American crime syndicate in the act of illegally trading heroin. |
| murder | major | The story began with a hitman murder in Marseilles. A sniper tried to kill Popeye. The sniper murdered a beat cop on the train. Popeye arguably murdered the sniper by shooting him in the back. |
| obsession | major | The narcotics detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle became borderline obsessed with bringing Alain Charnier and his international heroin smuggling scheme. This was especially the case after Charnier taunted Popeye while felling on the subway. |
| organized crime | major | The story concerns American police officers trying to catch a French and an American crime syndicate in the act of illegally trading heroin. |
| partners on the police force | major | The central protagonists were the buddy narcotics detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo. |
| dangerous driving | minor | Popeye commandeered a civilian's car and tore through Brooklyn under an elevated train, nearly killing a woman pushing a baby carriage. |
| facing organized pursuit | minor | Charnier was tailed by Popeye but cleverly shook him off. Various criminals complained about being under surveillance by the cops. |
| racism in society | minor | Doyle used racial slurs against Blacks and Latinos without compunction. |