Analysis
Symbols and Tropes
Hero's Journey
Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...
Setting
New York in the 1970sIt's mid-morning and Popeye is waking from a drunken slumber, pork-pie hat shielding his eyes from the week sunlight filter in through the bar windows. The radio has given way...
Point of View
Playing Both SidesThe Thin LineA few years ago, Friedkin wrote that "the best cops are the ones who can think like criminals; and there is a thin line between the policeman and the criminal that st...
Genre
Drama; American New Wave; Pulp NoirGenre: Drama (Action/Thriller)We're using the term "thriller" here, not because The French Connection contains dancing zombies like a certain epic Michael Jackson...
What's Up With the Title?
This is a movie about a drug connection that's made through France. What more do you need? Okay, we'll give you a little more. Just because we like you so much.In Lieu of SpinachJust months before...
What's Up With the Ending?
There are three stages that we see when it comes to this shocking ending, so let's break it down:Doyle shoots Mulderig.Doyle runs after Charnier, and there's a shot. Slides showing the fates of eac...
Shock Rating
RRacism, violence, drugs, guns, violent racist son-of-a-guns. In a post-Ferguson world, it can be difficult to watch a conflicted protagonist like Popeye rough up almost everyone he comes into cont...