Fred Zinnemann's excellent film, "The Day of the Jackal," is the story of an attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle. The way the film unfolds, almost as a documentary, one would assume it's a true story. Actually, it's from Frederic Forsyth's novel.
The Jackal (Edward Fox) is hired by the OAS, a militant underground group that opposes de Gaulle giving independence to Algeria. The group has learned the hard way that a man who survived -- in fact, led -- the Resistance in France during WW II is not easy to bump off. After shooting something like 110 bullets into his car, de Gaulle exited unscathed. So the OAS turns to an outsider, a crack assassin who carefully plans each step leading to de Gaulle's assassination. He is forced to think on his feet and kill a lot of people as unforeseen circumstances happen along the way.
If the Jackal is working hard, so is the French Security. Due to bank robberies in France by the OAS, the French government figures that the OAS needs to fund something. The OAS chief is captured and tortured. Security walks away with the name: The Jackal, and realize that De Gaulle may be in danger. There is no way to find the Jackal: They can't detain him at the border since they don't know his name. Government assassins can't destroy him if he's in another country; they can't arrest him in France because they don't know who he is. The can't search for him; they don't know what he looks like. The government calls in a man recommended by the Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale).
With precious little to go on, made worse because the entire operation must be kept secret, Lebel and an assistant (a young Derek Jacobi) start the step by step police work necessary to uncover this man. It's a massive job.
Absolutely fascinating film showing the careful preparations on the side of both the police and the assassin and the roadblocks each runs into. Edward Fox is brilliant as The Jackal -- even with precious little dialogue, he manages to show his coldness, preciseness, and quick mind. Lonsdale as Lebel seems like a real police detective - underplayed, exhausted, unflappable, and dogged. A wonderful performance.
Truly excellent film.
The Jackal (Edward Fox) is hired by the OAS, a militant underground group that opposes de Gaulle giving independence to Algeria. The group has learned the hard way that a man who survived -- in fact, led -- the Resistance in France during WW II is not easy to bump off. After shooting something like 110 bullets into his car, de Gaulle exited unscathed. So the OAS turns to an outsider, a crack assassin who carefully plans each step leading to de Gaulle's assassination. He is forced to think on his feet and kill a lot of people as unforeseen circumstances happen along the way.
If the Jackal is working hard, so is the French Security. Due to bank robberies in France by the OAS, the French government figures that the OAS needs to fund something. The OAS chief is captured and tortured. Security walks away with the name: The Jackal, and realize that De Gaulle may be in danger. There is no way to find the Jackal: They can't detain him at the border since they don't know his name. Government assassins can't destroy him if he's in another country; they can't arrest him in France because they don't know who he is. The can't search for him; they don't know what he looks like. The government calls in a man recommended by the Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale).
With precious little to go on, made worse because the entire operation must be kept secret, Lebel and an assistant (a young Derek Jacobi) start the step by step police work necessary to uncover this man. It's a massive job.
Absolutely fascinating film showing the careful preparations on the side of both the police and the assassin and the roadblocks each runs into. Edward Fox is brilliant as The Jackal -- even with precious little dialogue, he manages to show his coldness, preciseness, and quick mind. Lonsdale as Lebel seems like a real police detective - underplayed, exhausted, unflappable, and dogged. A wonderful performance.
Truly excellent film.