Final Movie Cinematography Series: FRENCH CONNECTION (Putting It Together)

Last movie for looking at cinematography. We've explored the main aspects of cinematography; let's put it all together with the greatest movie ever made, French Connection (1971). Directed by William Friedkin, shot by Owen Roizman. There's an argument to be made (a difficult argument to dispute) that with this movie Roizman established the look of gritty urban "realism" that dominated the '70s.

And actually, he did it using techniques that we have not spent a lot of time discussing, choice of film stock, pushing the limits of that stock--the grain, the shadows, natural lighting, and so on, and desaturating and other techniques in post-production.

This movie is of course also famous for its editing, as well as the sound design. It won multiple academy awards, and is a contender for one of the most influential movies of all time.

Interestingly, Roizman himself isn't an artiste, he's a technician. (He started by doing commercials.) But he demonstrates in a compelling way exactly how cinematography straddles the line between practical technical problem-solving craftsmanship and artistry. Friedkin wanted to make the movie documentary-like, and Roizman made that happen.

This movie, in a way similar to Zodiac, raises the question, what does it mean to "recreate reality"? Obviously New York doesn't *actually* look dim and grainy and gray, but that's the way we think of it (and lament its loss) *because* of this movie.

Anyway, in addition to the cinematography, direction, sound, and editing, this movie has two of the greatest chase sequences ever filmed. (And of course Gene Hackman also won for best actor; and Ernest Tidyman won for best adapted screenplay (and Friedkin won best director, and Gerald Greenberg won for editing. Interestingly, Roizman did not win for best cinematography--was the cinematography the one thing about this movie too radical to for the academy to embrace?)

Most of these movies will be available on any streaming service, or as always you can find a (free) link here:

https://gregoryberry.net/cinematography

We will meet on Friday, July 25, 2025, at 8PM, at LEANING TOWER OF PIZZA at 24th Street and Lyndale, same as always. See you there!