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The Genre Film as Booby Trap: 1970s GenreBending and The French Connection
- Cinema Journal
- University of Texas Press
- 40, Number 3, Spring 2001
- pp. 25-46
- 10.1353/cj.2001.0006
- Article
- Additional Information
Genre-bending films rely on viewers' habitual responses to generic codes, misleading audiences into expecting conventional outcomes. The French Connection (1971) exploits spectators' expectations of police-detective-film formulas and thereby catches viewers offguard, creating a more unsettling experience than the genre traditionally provides.