ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

grantss France, 1963. A group of disgruntled army officers have banded together and formed an organisation called the OAS. Their aim - to kill President Charles de Gaulle. After several failed attempts and the trial and execution of several of their leaders, the OAS hire an assassin in a final attempt to complete the task. He is The Jackal.Superb thriller - a great adaptation of the Frederick Forsyth novel. Very intriguing and engaging. While the coverage of the Jackal himself is interesting, what rounds it off perfectly is the police angle. We see the investigations, on both sides of the English Channel, the ingenious hypotheses and cross-examination of data and the painstaking grunt work.Director Fred Zinneman also builds the tension well and the conclusion is not at all predictable. Add in a decidedly unglamourous lead detective, Commissioner Lebel, and you have a very plausible, gritty, accurate-feeling movie. No flashy stuff, just a great story, well told.

sandnair87 Fred Zinnemann's 'The Day of the Jackal' is a patient, studied and quasi-documentary translation of Frederick Forsyth's best-selling political suspense novel. The film appeals more to the intellect than the brute senses, as it traces the detection of an assassin hired to kill French President Charles de Gaulle.The story is set in Paris during a week in August of 1962. President De Gaulle (played by an uncanny look-alike), by granting Algeria their independence, upsets right-wing extremists and disgruntled war veterans, who form a secret terrorist organization known as OAS and vow to assassinate him. The film opens to a failed attempt on De Gaulle as he rides in a motorcade. After the OAS culprits are arrested and their leader executed six months later, their new leader and his three top aides secretly hire a mysterious Englishman- the eponymous Jackal (Fox) - to assassinate the President. Jackal accepts the offer and begins his methodical work to prepare the assassination. In the meantime, French security services receive some information about OAS plans and decide to hand over the case to Inspector Lebel (Lonsdale), the best investigator in France. But he doesn't even know who the jackal is. He learns the name "Jackal" from an informer in the plotter's ranks and cleverly pieces together the identity of the killer-for-hire.What follows is an intricate and meticulous story with a parallel structure that details the Jackal's preparations for the assassination and Lebel's efforts to stop him. The major asset of the film is that it succeeds in maintaining interest and suspense despite obvious viewer foreknowledge of the outcome. Director Zinnemann faithfully follows the source, presenting a precise, almost discomfiting reconstruction of the story. He directs it with the skill of a master craftsman, creating a riveting cat-and-mouse game between the mysterious lone-wolf hired assassin known only by his code name and the master policeman in charge of the investigation. He does a fine job of presenting the narrative in such a precise way despite offering no psychological analysis or humor, building in tension to the concluding assassination attempt. Playing the titular Jackal, Edward Fox is superb as the coldly impassionate killer. He's boyishly charming, impeccably groomed, possessed of an easy laugh, and casually ruthless. Michael Lonsdale is properly plodding, yet magnificently analytical as the detective tracking him down.The Day of the Jackal is a polished, electrifying thriller, mercifully unburdened with heavy political digressions. The screenplay meticulously assembles an incredible array of material, and then Fred Zinnemann choreographs it so that the story - complicated as it is - unfolds in almost documentary starkness. Telling the story very methodically, by exposing small details that would later be important pieces of great puzzle, he manages to achieve a dignified tone and compelling pace seldom seen in latter-day thrillers.

tomsview These days, it's fascinating to see Edward Fox playing crusty old gents in episodes of "Midsummer Murders" or "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" when you know that back in the day, he was a super-fit assassin who could kill with one blow from the back of his hand.In fact he was just about the best hit man ever in just about the best thriller ever. Although "The Day of the Jackal" was made in 1973, with not one smartphone or desktop computer in sight, it is still the police procedural par excellence.I love all the detail as Edward Fox's methodical Jackal plans to assassinate Charles De Gaulle, and how Michael Londsale's equally methodical French policeman, Claude Label, plans to stop him.When I first saw the movie in 1973, many of the British actors such as Maurice Denham, Derek Jacobi and Cyril Cusack etc., were familiar, but over the intervening years, they became almost like old friends, turning up in countless movies and television shows.The French actors and extras were perfectly cast, from the tough-looking characters playing OAS and Action Service men to the Citroën chauffeured members of parliament, and the beautiful widow who uses her charms to get information about the government's plans.A few years ago, I lent the DVD to a friend who watched it with his teenage son. When I asked what they thought of it, he told me his son thought it lacked action - I think he felt the same. That attitude goes some way to explaining why over the decades; the ratio of action-heavy movies to films of depth has risen exponentially.The more you see of Fred Zinneman's movies the more you appreciate how good he was; a perfectionist. Where it could be argued that the movies of many of his famous contemporaries went off as they aged - Ford, Huston, Preminger - his movies never did. Even his last one "Five Days One Summer" is a beautifully understated and underrated cult classic.However there is little doubt about "The Day of the Jackal" - it's a lesson in how to put a film together.

Spikeopath The Day of the Jackal is directed by Fred Zinnerman and adapted to screenplay by Kenneth Ross from the novel of the same name written by Frederick Forsyth. It stars Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel, Tony Britton and Denis Carey. Music is by Georges Delerue and cinematography by Jean Tournier.As the French political climate reaches boiling point over the Algeria situation, underground organisation the OAS plot to have President Charles de Gaulle assassinated. When an attempt fails the OAS members not caught are exiled in Vienna and decide that bringing in an outsider to kill the President is the best way forward now. That outsider is an Englishman, code name The Jackal, a methodically cunning and deadly assassin…Wonderful, the kind of character driven thriller that has become in short supply over the decades. It's all so simple, even sedate, yet this calm approach serves the plotting perfectly. After the initial set ups we follow The Jackal (a super icy turn by Fox) on his mission to kill General de Gaul. His planning, the people he meets, the people he has to kill to stay one step ahead of the authorities. From cons to weapon smuggling, to disguises and sexual encounters, it's thoroughly compelling from Jackal's story arc alone, but the frequent shifts to the hunt for him by a whole ream of suits and detectives is also fascinating viewing.Backing Fox up is a raft quality performers, a cast very much in tune with the material to hand. Delure's musical composition is purposely of the minimalist breed, Tournier's photography is period compliant and smooth, while Ralph Kemplen's excellent editing was rightly nominated for an Academy Award. Zinnerman does sterling work from the director's chair, amazingly keeping a two and half hour movie free of extraneous scenes or pointless exposition. Everything is relative, it really is a film to stay focused with, to give it respect by giving it your undivided attention. So go the bathroom before sitting down to view this truly great and smart thriller. 9/10