William Friedkin
Il Braccio Violento Della Legge

Essential work of the so-called "New Hollywood" in cahoots with the other quintessential crime film "Dirty Harry" both from 1971. If, however, the latter was entrusted to a seasoned veteran like Don Siegel, the former was entrusted to a 35-year-old who until then had made 4 films, none of which were truly memorable or successful. But, indeed, things were changing, and young directors like Spielberg, Coppola, Allen, and indeed Friedkin were stepping into the spotlight.

That it was a crime film that had nothing to do with the old classics of the '40s was evident from the start. Until then, the focus had been on the mysterious charm of the policeman or, better yet, the private detective, limiting violence to a minimum and increasing the romantic intertwining (never cloying, but certainly the romantic subplot was expected), thanks to the downfall of the notorious Hays Code (thanks to that masterpiece by Arthur Penn, "Bonnie and Clyde", 1967) finally, the focus could be more on pace, chases, and violence. In short, the cops and the bad guys (who were often the same thing) shot, killed, and they showed it.

The idea for the movie arose from a journalistic investigation, later turned into a literary work, by Robin Moore, which told of a heroin trafficking involving American and Marseille crime. Eddie Egan and Sonnie Grosso, the agents of the operation, were used as consultants by Friedkin to make the film even more authentic. Obviously, the director was interested in reality, so not only the narrative but also the language and dialogues in the film became innovative and astonished the audience of the time, not accustomed to such language (very tame, in truth, if we consider the later works of Scorsese and, then, Tarantino, but the signal of a new way of making film characters speak was born here). And, the cherry on top, a chase scene where a car crazily follows the direction of the subway destined to make history. Although, in this case, the innovative impact is less striking, given that a high-speed chase (and thus a masterpiece of editing) was, as is known, present two years earlier in "Bullitt".

However, Friedkin is a top-notch director, and the alternation of highly-paced scenes with moments of dialogue is mixed in an exemplary way. At times, the cut is semi-documentary, and the depiction of the protagonist, Jimmy Doyle, is the forerunner of a long sequence of policemen with not exactly orthodox ways that will crowd the screen from there until the present days. The mix between grandiose demands and the desire to tell the often unfortunate existence of law enforcers is highly successful, credit also due to the photography by Owen Roizman.

A special note is deserved by the excellent cast. Much has already been said about Gene Hackman, who truly became a star here (despite already being 41), and he deserves all the praise, but the co-stars should not be forgotten, a dazzling Roy Scheider (at the peak of his popularity in the '70s) and a Fernando Rey whom Friedkin didn't even want (he saw Francisco Rabal in "Belle de Jour" and asked the production for him as an actor, but the production misunderstood and cast the aforementioned Rey, although no mistake was ever happier).

Friedkin, who after this film directed "The Exorcist" before completely wasting himself on a flop like "Sorcerer" (1977) and practically never recovering (even the excellent "To Live and Die in L.A.", 1985, was an unjustified failure), found the wild card that granted him cinematic immortality. It was a triumphant success and won 5 Oscars (Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Editing) and created a path that many would follow with varying success.