The French Connection

The French Connection, which won an Oscar for Best Picture, is a film about waiting. It is the story of two narcotics cops who investigate a shipment of heroin from France. Apart from the exciting subway and elevated-train scenes in which the cops chase the "frogs," and the finale in an abandoned warehouse, the majority of the movie consists of Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider standing on street corners or sitting in cars. I felt impatient.

It is interesting that director William Friedkin has Saturn opposite his Virgo Sun, Moon and Neptune. Saturn is the planet of delay, of the hard work involved in getting a job done; with Saturn, if often feels that the big payday will never come. The image of Hackman standing outside in the cold, drinking bad coffee, waiting for what seems like hours while the Frenchmen complete their lavish seven-course meal--that's Saturn. I imagine that Friedkin channels his own experience of a prominent Saturn aspect into this film; as opposed to nonstop action, the viewer gets a sense of the long hours of waiting and observing involved in a narc's job.

Friedkin has five planets in Virgo. Virgo is one of the rulers of policemen, since police are civil servants. With Friedkin's Lights conjunct Neptune, they are working in the Narcotics Division, Neptune being the ruler of drugs.

This Saturn opposition to Friedkin's Virgo planets, including Neptune, is reinforced with the placement of these planets in the 6th-12th house axis, which are naturally related to Virgo and Pisces, the latter of which is ruled by Neptune.

In the classic car chase of the movie, Hackman chases an elevated train, finally killing one of the Frenchman after the train has crashed. This scene corresponds with Friedkin's Mars in Scorpio (death by firearm) in the third house (on a train platform).

Friedkin also directed The Exorcist. Saturn opposite Neptune correlates with dark (Saturn) religious imagery (Neptune)--as with the defamed Virgin Mary statue--and the negative (Saturn) spiritual entity (Neptune) that possesses the little girl.

This essay was last updated on August 27, 2005.

Bad News Bears has its Saturn Return

Saturn takes about 29 years to travel around the Sun; in astrological terms, it takes that long to travel across the ecliptic. In an individual's life, the Saturn Return occurs when transiting Saturn returns to its natal position. For example, I was born with Saturn at 5 Taurus. I had my Saturn return when Saturn returned to 5 Taurus after moving through all the signs of the zodiac once.

The Saturn Return is a major completion of a cycle, often signalling a deepening of maturity and a taking-on of responsibility. Movies can have Saturn Returns, too. The Bad News Bears was released April 7, 1976, with Saturn at 26 Cancer. Twenty-nine years later, the remake was released on July 22, 2005, with Saturn at 0 Leo (just a few degrees away from 26 Cancer).

Another movie which has had its Saturn Return, truly signalling the end of a cycle, is Star Wars, as noted by Glenn Perry and Bill Streett. Episode III was released one complete Saturn cycle after the first film, Episode IV. This Saturn Return feels more significant because Star Wars has had a greater impact on the collective, and it brings closure to what George Lucas introduced to the collective 29 years ago. However, The Bad News Bears was successful enough to be memorable (or memorable enough to be successful?); I remember it from my youth, and I am sure that there are many films that I don't recall at all.

At the completion of an astrological cycle, themes from the beginning of the cycle are replayed. On a cultural level, it is interesting to observe how remakes and specific films within a director's own oeuvre follow astrological cycles. In the July 10, 2005 Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times, film critic A.O. Scott notes that Spielberg comes full circle with War of the Worlds, rehashing similar themes as the film that catapulted him to success, Jaws. Both are "horror" movies in which a man (Tom Cruise/Roy Scheider) is entrusted with the care of a child. (Dakota Fanning was luckier than the child in Jaws). War of the Worlds was released a Saturn cycle after Jaws. Even though Scott is not an astrologer, he intuits this important astrological cycle in cinema; note the title of his article about George Lucas and Steven Spielberg: "The Boys of Summer, 30 Years Later."