The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Edward Fox: the Original Terminator...

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Edward Fox: the Original Terminator...

It's an old adage in fiction: there are no new stories, only well re-told ones. One can see this in 1973's The Day of the Jackal wherein the suave Edward Fox is the original Terminator rising from each setback to ruthlessly continue his terminator mission.

I don't usually review films because so many other people do and there may or may not be little left to say. However, sometimes a truly quality work of cinematographic art moves me to emphatically share with others its excellence: this is the case with The Day of the Jackal.

Now, probably most viewers will have seen this old chestnut on commercial TV interspersed with infinite advertisements, sliced and diced to atomic particles. That is NOT the way to see this film, for this is an extremely well-made film the fine editing of which is lost on commercial TV.

This was one of the first films to portray simultaneous multiple story lines. As mentioned, the editing is excellent. The set designs and especially the cityscapes of Paris, London, and Genoa are superb.
It's also very interesting to see the re-creation of the early-1960s time-frame.

Nominally a "political thriller," actually the plot has two main facets: (1) a detective story, and (2) the portrayal of the "Terminator." And while the former is interesting, the latter of these is most fascinating with Edward Fox as the star of the show. Not a big man--but well built--the "belle laide" Fox is totally ripped with low body fat.
It's fascinating to see him move through the motions of obtaining multiple identities, obtain and prepare the weapon, and plan the attack.
Once in motion, his goal is inexorable. Unto the very end, when it looks like his own escape will be certainly impossible, he continues simply because he single-mindedly wants to achieve his goal.

In the meantime, he shows himself to be utterly amoral and bisexual; along the way he murders four people with his bare hands; and he eludes an international dragnet of law-enforcement.

The heterosexual scenes with the French aristocrat are not graphic but quite erotic; and the following scenes in the bath house and the Frenchman's flat are subtle but unmistakably gay. (The campy décor of the Frenchman's flat is hilarious!)

Fox's changes of disguise parallel the Terminator's morphing abilities.

This is a very quiet film with little music, giving it a documentary ambiance and an high seriousness.
Of course there are some glaring plot failures, but with quality fiction one must suspend disbelief and simply enjoy the story itself.

This is really quite a quality film worthy of multiple viewings.

Vive la France!
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. December 1, 2008

Jackal

No one can write like Frederick Forsythe. Get the book. DVD not as good as book. November 23, 2008

AN EDGE OF YOUR SEAT THRILLER!!

This political thriller, based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, begins with a failed assassination attempt by the OAS, an organization angered by President DeGaulle's liberation of Algeria. They realize they are now under intense surveillance by French security and intelligence and must go outside France to hire a professional killer. His code name becomes Jackal. When the French kidnap and torture a member of the OAS, they get the word 'jackal' out of him before he dies. With that slim clue and Investigator Lebel they go to work to track down this apparent assassin. The film runs two parallel tracks between the French security forces and The Jackal, who always seems to be one step ahead. While the film covers in great detail the plans of The Jackal to carry out the perfect plot and the painstaking intelligence work on the part of the French government (before computers and cell phones), it never seems to bog down or be boring. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, building to the climactic 'Day of the Jackal' when DeGaulle is to be assassinated. You don't have to suspend logic to believe this film. It is based on the cleverness and genius of the assassin as well as the intuition and perseverance of Investigator Lebel. Both are obsessed with their jobs and are up to the challenge. A top notch thriller. Roger Ebert calls it 'spellbinding'. [...] November 22, 2008

Original and still the best

This is an absolutely superior work of cinema that was foolishly judged to be eligible for a remake, horribly done, with Bruce Willis (no joke). Accept nothing but the original!

One of the very few "mysteries" that can be watched again and again, without feeling disappointed at knowing the ending. Edward Fox is chillingly original as a killer with charm and ice water in the veins, the detective tracking him is the classic plodder with an almost sixth sense about the killer, and all of the surrounding characters are interesting, intriguing and imperative to the unfolding story.

Not fully appreciated in its initial theatrical release, it's become a classic -- virtually impossible to find on DVD shelves in even the most well-stocked stores.
November 4, 2008

EDWARD FOX - THE ULTIMATE JACKAL

The Day of the Jackal
The Jackal is the code name of a hired killer, Edward Fox, who's asked by rival French General's to assassinate, General Charles de Gaulle. British and French Police, combine to thwart the attempt, about which they no nothing, except that it's imminent. The script by Kenneth Ross is even better than the novel. Edward Fox performs, excellently, much better than Bruce Willis in the latest version, maintining a difficult role, well over a long film. Others in the cast are as cold and calculating as the killer, whose preparations for the crime are intercut with the massive man-hunt, launched to get him, before he gets, de Gaulle. The final race against time, is expertly filmed and edited. November 3, 2008

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