Day of the Jackal (1973)

With the recent, Eddie Redmayne-fronted, re-release of this story in a big budget TV format, it seems now might be an appropriate time to revisit the original film that inspired the series. 

A co-production of the UK and France (showing that sometimes we can get along) and based on a Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name, this film is a political thriller telling the story of an attempted assassination attempt on General Charles De Gaulle. Although it is based on real characters and organisations that were indeed active in France in the 1960s, the plot itself is fictional and tells the story of a mysterious contract killer, known only as 'Jackal' who is hired by a paramilitary group to assassinate the general based on the conceding of Algeria, which happened at this time. 

Edward Fox plays Jackal and he begins as the quintessential English spy type. Posh, handsome and always immaculately turned out. As the film progresses, however, we begin to see that it's not all just smiles and floppy hair-dos. He is a cold-blooded and highly paid contract killer for a reason. As he moves to execute his plan, the police begin to get wind of the plot against De Gaulle and so begins a classic cat and mouse game than spans across Western Europe.

If this film were to be made in any time after, say, 1985 you might be required to throw in a car chase sequence or a shootout or two to keep things interesting but there is none of that here. It is strictly a procedural affair, where the excitement comes is in the meticulous detail that both criminal and police force adhere to. Because they are all so calculated and every thought or action is so well thought out, it makes the game infinitely more interesting. Instead of watching people trying to outgun or outmuscle each other, instead you are watching people trying to outthink each other, and because of the level of process and detail involved, you know you are dealing with two highly brilliant sides of the same coin. When a story is told with such respect for authenticity, it only makes things more compelling for the us, the viewer. 

As with all cat & mouse films, eventually one is going to have to maneuvre their way to victory. The art is keeping us guessing as long as possible, and this film does a masterful job at sustaining intrigue until the very end. Indeed even the final scene adds more enigma to what you've seen previously. It's all excellent, upper-echelon, stuff. A major helping hand in all of this is the use of real characters, real events, and real footage from a massive liberation day parade in Paris. Everything feels real and, as such, the stakes couldn't be higher.  

Where the film suffers a bit is in two distinct ways. First, the style itself feels a bit dated. For a 1973 release, there were many films brought out before this that have a much stronger technical style to them. This is only a ding because the truly great films rarely have a time-stamp. They tend to feel fresh no matter what year you are viewing them, which is not necessarily the case here. Secondly, I know it is a minor detail but all of the actors are British. This is not a bad thing inherently, but in a film that where the plot is so international, having a 99% British cast leads to Italians being British, French people being British, Algerians being British, and so on. It's not a major leap and you soon settle in, but it muddles things somewhat and, given the searing veracity in every other facet of the storytelling, feels like a compromise. 

That said, the writing and story in general is so strong that it becomes somewhat of a moot point and in the Jackal himself we have a lead character who is highly-intelligent, ruthless and fascinating, when he could so easily be one-dimensional. The police, especially the commissioner assigned to the case (played by Michael Lonsdale) are heavyweight brilliant minds who will go to any lengths to succeed. All of this makes for a gripping, brilliantly written and highly procedural thriller and if you're more inclined to enjoy a team of French police officers cross-referencing a list of eight thousand names over a machine gun battle in helicopters, this might be a worth seeking out. 

★★★☆☆

JB.