The French Connection: Film fans fume as classic 1971 movie is censored without explanation
‘This is an absolutely unacceptable move,’ one person raged
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Your support makes all the difference.Film fans are expressing their fury after a scene in The French Connection was censored without explanation.
Those watching William Friedkin’s 1971 drama on US streaming platform Criterion Channel were left confused by a clunky edit during a scene roughly 10 minutes into the film.
The sequence, set in the New York police precinct, features a conversation between detectives “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider), in which the former utters a racial slur.
The six-second sequence has been completely removed, and the edited version instead cuts to midway through the pair’s conversation.
Those who purchased digital copies of the film are re-watching the scene back, and noticing that the copy they bought has also been amended to reflect the change.
Disney has been accused of censoring the film; the studio has owned the rights to The French Connection since its acquisition of Fox back in 2019.
However, the film remains unedited on Disney+ in the UK and Canada.
The Independent has contacted both Criterion Channel and Disney for comment.
Film fans are expressing their anger at edits being made to a classic film without fanfare or explanation.
Writer Sam Adams remarked: “The uncensored FRENCH CONNECTION should be the only one in circulation, whether on TV or in theaters. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Friedkin knew exactly what having his detective protagonist use it said about him.”
Author Drew McWeeney added: “This s*** is insidious, and their license gives them the right to alter it no matter what.”
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Film curator Alexander Woell pointed out that Scheider “specifically said the scene resonated with audiences at the time”, adding: “Cultural context is an important part of media literacy. Historical revisionism is not the answer.”
Meanwhile, film fan @DamnFoolCrusade said: “This is ridiculous and an absolutely unacceptable move on Disney’s part. It seems it was done without thinking.”
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