The French Connection

I've recently watched 2 really excellent crime films (or should I better call them "film noir"? well, I keep that for the experts). The French Connection and French Connection II are inspired by the real drug trafficking scheme operating between the 1930's and 1970's and that transported heroin from Turkey to France and from there to the USA. The 2 central cities in this trafficking were Marseille and New York.

The first film (from 1971) is really good, but the second one is just outstanding. The first installment has some scenes shot in Marseille but most of the story happens in New York. The second installment is 100% shot in Marseille. Given my love for the gorgeous Mediterranean city one can think that it plays a role in my predilection for the second film. Well, for sure it does, but anyway the story in the second film is much more aggressive, gripping, even extreme (the detective striving to overcome the heroin addiction forced on him by the gangsters). It also has some funny moments with the culture shock of the New York detective experiencing France.

For a Marseille lover like me that only knows the city (pretty well I think I can say, I've been there many times) since 2014, the images of 1975 Marseille are really interesting. On one side there are so many familiar things, the forts and the Vieux Port, some of those high-rise buildings that emerged in the 50's - 60's... On the other side the ugly port facilities right below the cathedral have disappeared (replaced by the rather interesting EuroMed development, indeed Marseille has become along with Bilbao one of the most reknown examples of tranformation of an ugly centrally located industrial area into a trendy, architecturally noteworthy space loved by its cicizens).

One obvious negative change that clearly slaps you in the face is the change in the population make up. In those images from the 70's one perceives a European society (where there is the normal and healthy gradient of skin colors from "very white" to "very black", but everyone seems to share a same culture). This has little to do with the current city where estimates say that more than a 30% of the population is Muslim, and even worse, most of them consider themselves Algerians rather than French...). The criminality levels have totally changed. In the 70's you had these criminal gangs importing, cooking and exporting heroin and for sure there was violence among them and against the police, certainly the drug addicts posed a problem... but that's nothing compared with the current massive violence exerted by the Islamists (mostly cultural violence, but also physical violence) and with the neighbourhoods controlled by the drug dealers and/or the Islamists...