Day Of The Jackal [1973]
Day Of The Jackal [1973]
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 The Jackal 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 The French Connection), The Day of the Jackal 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. –Jeff Shannon
Customer Review: Be in no doubt …
At my English prep school in the mid-80s the Day of the Jackal was approved viewing for the boys, despite its adult themes, because it offered up a role model of how an English gentleman should behave. Edward Fox is perfect in the lead role: impossibly dapper and handsome, emotionally cold, well organised, hates the French and travels in style. The Day of the Jackal is a beautifully shot film, full of glossy mid-70s Europe, summer, good clothes, cigarettes and hotels. It tells of a cat and mouse game between an assassin and the French security services out to get that assassin, but with little information to go on. I have found this to be one of few films that reward repeated viewing. Enjoy.
Customer Review: GO MAN GO!
A brilliant film which had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. If you are not willing on the killer with every ounce of your being by the end of the film you’re not human in my opinion.
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