The Day of the Jackal (1973)'s comments

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Siskoid

The Day of the Jackal, about a fictional attempt on Charles de Gaulle in the early 60s (when he really was targeted for death by a "patriotic" extremist group, is a procedural film that takes us through the nitty-gritty of an assassin's job (they even show him buying dye for his hair), with some portion of the film given over to the policemen's point of view, in a pen-and-paper universe that makes their task seem that much harder to us Internet types. The net effect is that you're rooting for a cold-blooded killer at least as much as the police commissioner in charge of the affair, and the spy sent to seduce a French official to get ahead of the investigation. Getting there, and seeing how each piece matters, is what it's all about, and the finale is almost necessarily an anti-climax (since we know de Gaulle wasn't killed). A slowly-building thriller with lots of European locations and great character actors in the minor roles for good measure.

6 years 11 months ago