You gotta hand it to the Brits. They truly know how to make a captivating thriller.
After seeing 1971's "Get Carter" I enjoyed another great ride with this story of a British assassin, known only as Jackal, hired by Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) to kill French president Charles De Gaulle. Consisting of disgruntled former French army officers and foreign legionnaires, the OAS felt De Gaulle betrayed France's interests by granting independence to Algeria so they decided to take him out. After several failed assassination attempts they turn to Jackal (Edward Fox), an outsider with a proved track record, who agrees to do it for $1,000,000.
His planning is so meticulous and thorough that at certain times it's easy to forget what he's about and start pulling for him. Movie is not shy about showing us the gritty details of an assassination plan, either. In fact, I have serious doubts if many of the 'do it yourself' scenes would make it past the censors in today's era of global terrorist threat. As he does his legwork jumping from Vienna to London to Paris to Genova against a colourful sexy European scenery we get a romanticized portrait of an ascot-wearin', Alfa Romeo-drivin' assassin who leaves nothing to chance (thankfully this never approaches the cheese level of your average James Bond flick).
My minor complaints about "The Day of the Jackal" are more logistical in nature and have to do with how quickly the French police and Scotland Yard get on Jackal's trail when they have pretty much nothing but his possible codename to start with. Also, entire first act is spent portraying him as a cunning, calculated professional with a nose for sticky situations, yet in the latter scenes he makes many reckless choices when laying low would clearly be a more sensible option.
Even if you buy his decision to proceed to Paris instead of returning to the safety of Italy when he knew police were hot on his trail after figuring out his first assumed identity, what exactly was the thinking behind the decision to go on with the plan even after police had his second false identity and ran hourly bulletins on TV. Even if he somehow managed to kill De Gaulle that day, did he really think he could successfully leave Paris afterwards? Why such a revolutionary resolve? After all, unlike OAS, he's in this only for the money.
But, anyway....
And yes, I full well realize that this is not a biopic and that without the preceeding there probably wouldn't be a movie - so everything is forgiven.
The undeniable facts remain - "The Day of the Jackal" is a thoroughly fun, charming and stylish thriller and that's an even greater feat considering its serious historical and political backdrop.
After seeing 1971's "Get Carter" I enjoyed another great ride with this story of a British assassin, known only as Jackal, hired by Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) to kill French president Charles De Gaulle. Consisting of disgruntled former French army officers and foreign legionnaires, the OAS felt De Gaulle betrayed France's interests by granting independence to Algeria so they decided to take him out. After several failed assassination attempts they turn to Jackal (Edward Fox), an outsider with a proved track record, who agrees to do it for $1,000,000.
His planning is so meticulous and thorough that at certain times it's easy to forget what he's about and start pulling for him. Movie is not shy about showing us the gritty details of an assassination plan, either. In fact, I have serious doubts if many of the 'do it yourself' scenes would make it past the censors in today's era of global terrorist threat. As he does his legwork jumping from Vienna to London to Paris to Genova against a colourful sexy European scenery we get a romanticized portrait of an ascot-wearin', Alfa Romeo-drivin' assassin who leaves nothing to chance (thankfully this never approaches the cheese level of your average James Bond flick).
My minor complaints about "The Day of the Jackal" are more logistical in nature and have to do with how quickly the French police and Scotland Yard get on Jackal's trail when they have pretty much nothing but his possible codename to start with. Also, entire first act is spent portraying him as a cunning, calculated professional with a nose for sticky situations, yet in the latter scenes he makes many reckless choices when laying low would clearly be a more sensible option.
Even if you buy his decision to proceed to Paris instead of returning to the safety of Italy when he knew police were hot on his trail after figuring out his first assumed identity, what exactly was the thinking behind the decision to go on with the plan even after police had his second false identity and ran hourly bulletins on TV. Even if he somehow managed to kill De Gaulle that day, did he really think he could successfully leave Paris afterwards? Why such a revolutionary resolve? After all, unlike OAS, he's in this only for the money.
But, anyway....
And yes, I full well realize that this is not a biopic and that without the preceeding there probably wouldn't be a movie - so everything is forgiven.
The undeniable facts remain - "The Day of the Jackal" is a thoroughly fun, charming and stylish thriller and that's an even greater feat considering its serious historical and political backdrop.