Runtime: 143 minutes
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
From: Several production companies in the UK and France
I’m fulfilling a request here; in the future I’ll be better at seeing films recommended to me. Earlier in the week, a mutual left a comment on my review of A Bridge Too Far. That lead to a mention of Edward Fox; in short, that was the only film I had seen him in so this was recommended. As it’s on Prime… no excuse for me NOT to view it as soon as I could. Turns out, this was a great motion picture.
This was a fictional tale set in 1963 based on real-life incidents. French President Charles de Galle was someone who for various reasons was the target of various assassination attempts. The opening recreates an actual plot gone awry; this was to present the OAS as the villains of the piece. They were against Algerian independence from France (long story) so when Algeria was granted independence, they wanted revenge. This time, the OAS hired a hitman, played by Fox as the titular Jackel. The film is quite meticulous so not only do we take our time seeing Jackal prepare for the hit, but once law enforcement learns of the plan, we see their efforts to try and track down someone whose name they at first don’t know.
The leader of that task force was an investigator played by Michael Lonsdale. I mainly think of him for Moonraker, which isn’t entirely fair; both Fox and him were standouts in the film. Both were presented as experts in their field without going OOT, so yes I loved both characters. No one will be faulted for thinking the movie is too slow or they aren’t interested in a political thriller almost 2 ½ hours long where both sides of an investigation are shown & the presentation is the opposite of flashy. Personally, I was riveted the entire time with all the characters shown (it never became confused for me), the cast that only had a few faces I knew-including Delphine Seyrig-but everyone was solid, & there were benefits to having a great director like Fred Zinnemann, not to mention a veteran editor like Ralph Kemplen.
The recommendation was even better than expect. It was a reminder for me to watch old Euro-crime thrillers as I know by now this is a niche for me.
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