Cedric Jimenez's The Connection tells the story of the real-life Marseilles magistrate Pierre Michel, a man who in the 1970s was relentless and dedicated to dismanteling the most notorious drug smuggling operation seen in histroy. Gatean "Tany" Zampa is who Michel is after, a man the police have absolutely nothing on, even though he is responisble for smuggling thousands of kilos of herion into the United States. Jimenez's The Connection is a slick and stylish crime drama that does an affective job at telling a story of two men who are pitted against each other. The Connection is a cat and mouse game but it does what all good films of this ilk must, having two dualing narratives, as both Zampa and Michel are given a lot of screentime away from one and other. Michel is tenacious in approach, being a constant thorn in the poweful Zampa's side, with things escalating as Michel scraps away at Zampa's empire. From picking up low level members of Zampa's crew to spouting intimindation in the papers, Michel relentlessly chases Zampa over a story that span several years. As Zampa weakens, his rivals begin to try and move in on his turf, with Michel indirectly making it all happen. While the narrative of The Connection is solid, it isn't anything you haven't seen before. What does make The Connection worth watching? The film's ability to empathize with the antagonist of the story to some degree, presenting a full portrait of a drug lord who does show signs of empathy. Don't get me wrong, Zampa is a ruthless criminal in this film but his emotional fragility is shown through a well shot sequence that juxtaposes both men spending time with their familes, as well as a sequence in which Zampa is dealing with the death of two of his close associates/friends. Another interesting aspect is the violence, with the violence orcestrated by Zampa's crew being shot in mostly wide lenses and with quickness, giving it a insignifant coldless that captures the commonplace nature of these crimes. Michel's struggle becomes between his obsession to beat Zampa and the importance of his families safety, but I honestly found this to be one of the more formulaic aspects of the film.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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