The Connection

Now this is... slightly more like it! I want to go to the Film Society to see decent movies that I would otherwise pass by... and while I'm not saying I would even consider this, I was there, this was playing... and it was quite good!

A director wants to make a movie about junkies, and so gets himself an apartment of druggies, gives one of them money to turn up with the dope, and then films what happens... and what happens is a rather disconnected series of monologues and interplay from people who can barely communicate... and like jazz. The music track is played live, as it were, with junkie musicians laying down the tunes. And then the drugs turn up around half-way and the film takes a different turn... especially when the director, who occasionally pops onto screen to cajole them, is talked into trying it himself. And it winds down from there...

It is slow, but it draws you in, and becomes rather watchable. The cast give engaging performances, especially Warren Finnerty, Jerome Raphael and Jim Anderson. The film is shot in black and white, largely as one shot, although it's fairly clear when there's a change in shot. It was originally a play, and I can see that (although I'm not sure if it keeps the filming device?).

Yeah, okay, a thumbs up for this one.

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