The Connection (2014 film)

The Connection (French: La French) is a 2014 French-Belgian action crime thriller film directed by Cédric Jimenez and produced by Alain Goldman. The film was inspired by the events of the French Connection in the 1970s, starring Jean Dujardin as police magistrate Pierre Michel and Gilles Lellouche as Gaëtan "Tany" Zampa, a drug gang ringleader. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2014. The film garnered generally favourable reviews and it earned $26 million at the box office against a budget of $11.8 million.

Plot

1970s Marseille is ruled by a brutal drug gang importing morphine from Turkey, transforming it into heroin and exporting the product to New York under the gang name la French. The gang, led by the cold-hearted Gaètan Tany Zampa (Gilles Lellouche), is boosting its income from drug trafficking by doing extortion and robberies. Former Juvenile Court judge Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) is transferred to an organized crime unit, but finds out that la French's crimes are difficult or impossible to prove and that the police unit investigating heroin trade under Captain Aimé-Blanc has nothing relevant to report.

French

French may refer to:

See also

Gilles Lellouche

Gilles Lellouche (French pronunciation: ​[ʒil ləˈluʃ]; born 5 July 1972) is a French actor. He started his career as a director. Lellouche has appeared in more than fifty films since 1995. He was nominated twice for a César Award; in 2006 for Most Promising Actor and in 2011 for Best Supporting actor for his performance in Little White Lies.

From 2002 to 2013, Lellouche was in a relationship with actress Mélanie Doutey. They have a daughter named Ava, born on 5 September 2009.

Selected filmography

As actor

As director

References

External links

French Connection

The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States through Canada. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States. The operation was headed by Corsican criminals Paul Carbone (and his associate François Spirito) and Antoine Guérini, and also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco. Most of the operation's starting capital came from assets that Ricord had stolen during World War II when he worked for Henri Lafont, one of the heads of the Carlingue (French Gestapo) during the German occupation in World War II.

From the 1930s to the 1950s

Illegal heroin labs were first discovered near Marseille, France, in 1937. These labs were run by Corsican gang leader Paul Carbone. For years, the Corsican underworld had been involved in the manufacturing and trafficking of heroin, primarily to the United States. It was this heroin network that eventually became known as "the French Connection".

Jean Dujardin

Jean Dujardin (French: [ʒɑ̃ dy.ʒaʁ.dɛ̃]; born 19 June 1972) is a Swiss actor, director, producer and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before starting his acting career guest-starring in comedic television programs and films. He starred in Michel Hazanavicius's OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and its sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio as secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath. He also starred in 99F (99 francs).

Dujardin garnered international fame and widespread acclaim with his performance of George Valentin in the 2011 award-winning silent movie The Artist. The role won him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor. He became the first French actor in history to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.