In November and December, our special series is dedicated to Final Cut: remarkable endings in the broadest sense of the word.
In Shirley Clarke’s groundbreaking debut, junkie jazz musicians, including Jackie McLean and Freddie Redd, who also composed the music—await their next fix. The film is based on an off-Broadway play and retains that same atmosphere: a jazzy, drug-fueled experience, an unholy mix of 12 Angry Men and Requiem for a Dream within the claustrophobic walls of a New York apartment, while a young documentarian attempts to make a ‘truthful’ film about them. What follows is a jazz-driven, anxious descent in which the line between film and reality gradually blurs. The film is structured as a mockumentary: a feature presenting itself as a documentary, with the camera crew becoming part of the story. The Connection is highly regarded in American independent cinema for its innovative style and, at the time, controversial themes.
With restless camerawork, playful beat dialogues, and a cool jazz score, it became a milestone and was highly influential among avant-garde filmmakers. The cinematography, influenced by the Nouvelle Vague, and the poetic beat dialogue give the film a light, improvisational tone. The film shattered stereotypes, became the subject of a historic censorship case for ‘indecent language,’ yet was simultaneously praised as an influential masterpiece.