|
 |
Day of the Jackal
|
by Universal Studios
Sales Rank: 9152
Price: $14.98
|
|
|
With its high-intensity plot about an attempt to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle, the bestselling novel by Frederick Forsyth was a prime candidate for screen adaptation. Director Fred Zinnemann brought his veteran skills to bear on what has become a timeless classic of screen suspense. Not to be confused with the later remake <I>The Jackal</I> starring Bruce Willis (which shamelessly embraced all the bombast that Zinnemann so wisely avoided), this 1973 thriller opts for lethal elegance and low-key tenacity in the form of the Jackal, the suave assassin played with consummate British coolness by Edward Fox. He's a killer of the highest order, a master of disguise and international elusiveness, and this riveting film follows his path to de Gaulle with an intense, straightforward documentary style. Perhaps one of the last great films from a bygone age of pure, down-to-basics suspense (and a kind of debonair European alternative to the American grittiness of <I>The French Connection</I>), <I>The Day of the Jackal</I> is a cat-and-mouse thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat until its brilliantly executed final scene (pardon the pun), by which time Fox has achieved cinematic immortality as one of the screen's most memorable killers. <I>--Jeff Shannon</I>
Viewer Reviews
.
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!
.
Wilde (Special Edition)
Tom & Viv
The Bourne Ultimatum (Widescreen Edition)
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Saint Jack
Last Tango in Paris
Syriana (Widescreen Edition)
Vincent & Theo
Cabaret
Traffik - Miniseries
.
Back To Top
|
Day of the Jackal
Available from Amazon
|
|
NOTICE: All product prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
Copyright © 2009, Dominant Systems Corporation
info@HowlingVideo.com
Privacy Policy
Last Modified : 1-7-2009
|
