Today, we’re pleased to debut four exclusive images from The Connection. The film is based on a true story and stars Jean Dujardin as a magistrate trying to bring down the most notorious drug smuggling operation in history: The French Connection. This operation was turned into a minor film in the 1970s you may have heard of; The Connection is the European side of that story.

I’m fascinated by this film not only because of the plot, but by what it represents for Jean Dujardin’s career. He won the Oscar for Best Actor, but has stayed away from major roles in American pictures as opposed to his fellow French Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard, who has struck a balance between French features and American films. That’s not a criticism of Dujardin’s choices; simply an observation of how he’s gone in an unexpected direction.

Check out The Connection images below. The film opens May 15th.

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Judge Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) and his wife Jacqueline (Céline Sallette) argue the implications of his crusade in Drafthouse Films’ The Connection. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.
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Judge Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) at his office in Drafthouse Films’ The Connection. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.
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Judge Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) contemplates as he smokes in Drafthouse Films’ The Connection. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.
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Judge Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) sprints through the streets of Marseille in Drafthouse Films’ The Connection. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Here's the official synopsis:

Directed and co-written by Cédric Jimenez, THE CONNECTION was entirely shot on 35 mm and is the European flipside to William Friedkin's The French Connection. A stylish, 70's-period crime thriller inspired by true events, it tells the story of real-life Marseilles magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) and his relentless crusade to dismantle the most notorious drug smuggling operation in history: the French Connection. In his crosshairs is charismatic and wealthy kingpin, Gatean "Tany" Zampa (Gilles Lellouche), who runs the largest underground heroin trade into the States. Though the fearless and tenacious Michel, aided by a task force of elite cops, will stop at nothing--including boldly orchestrated drug raids, devastating arrests, and exacting interrogations--to ensure the crime ring's demise, Zampa's "La French" always seems one step ahead. As La French mounts its retaliation, Michel will be forced to make the most difficult decision of his life: to continue waging his war, or ensure his family's safety, before it's too late.