PRESENTED ON 35MM!
Neon Dreams pays tribute to two (make that THREE) of our favourite guys—Gene Hackman, William Friedkin, and Roy Scheider—with a rare 35mm screening of the groundbreaking 1971 neo-noir scorcher The French Connection.
Winner of five Academy Awards including picture, director, and actor, William Friedkin’s electric,
fact-based cops-and-crooks thriller is peak “New Hollywood”, filtering tried-and-true genre material through gritty, documentary-style realism. Hackman commands the screen as Popeye Doyle, a foulmouthed New York narcotics detective teamed up with his partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) to uncover a Mafia plot to bring in a massive shipment of heroin from Marseilles, and take down the ruthless mastermind Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey).
Filmed down and dirty on authentic NYC locations, The French Connection is packed with showstopping setpieces, and a sense of urgency and propulsive energy that Hollywood had never seen before. Friedkin set the bar so high with this one that directors have been striving to meet its standards ever since.
This screening and others are made possible thanks to our wonderful sponsor Hollywood Suite.