The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Country: GB/FR
Technical: col 142m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Alan Badel, Eric Porter, Delphine Seyrig, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack
Synopsis:
Following the granting of independence to Algeria, an organisation of reactionary elements from the military and former colonials, known as the OAS, seeks an external professional to accomplish the task of assassinating President De Gaulle.
Review:
Zinnemann's cold and calculating thriller is an excellently detailed procedural in which the antagonists of Fox's Jackal and Lonsdale's Inspector Lebel stand out as professionals at the top of their game. The busy narrative gives little space for individual performances to shine, and the use of so many British character actors to play Frenchmen is regrettable, but alongside so many dire Euro-pudding thrillers such as The Marseilles Contract the film is undoubtedly in a class of its own.
Country: GB/FR
Technical: col 142m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Alan Badel, Eric Porter, Delphine Seyrig, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack
Synopsis:
Following the granting of independence to Algeria, an organisation of reactionary elements from the military and former colonials, known as the OAS, seeks an external professional to accomplish the task of assassinating President De Gaulle.
Review:
Zinnemann's cold and calculating thriller is an excellently detailed procedural in which the antagonists of Fox's Jackal and Lonsdale's Inspector Lebel stand out as professionals at the top of their game. The busy narrative gives little space for individual performances to shine, and the use of so many British character actors to play Frenchmen is regrettable, but alongside so many dire Euro-pudding thrillers such as The Marseilles Contract the film is undoubtedly in a class of its own.
Country: GB/FR
Technical: col 142m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Alan Badel, Eric Porter, Delphine Seyrig, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack
Synopsis:
Following the granting of independence to Algeria, an organisation of reactionary elements from the military and former colonials, known as the OAS, seeks an external professional to accomplish the task of assassinating President De Gaulle.
Review:
Zinnemann's cold and calculating thriller is an excellently detailed procedural in which the antagonists of Fox's Jackal and Lonsdale's Inspector Lebel stand out as professionals at the top of their game. The busy narrative gives little space for individual performances to shine, and the use of so many British character actors to play Frenchmen is regrettable, but alongside so many dire Euro-pudding thrillers such as The Marseilles Contract the film is undoubtedly in a class of its own.