Chacal

You watch the Bruce Willis version of the Jackal and you think that is so cool, but you don't know cool until you see Edward Fox do it.

Fox is the epitome of cool. The guy even wears an ascot, for god's sake! Most people today don't even know what an ascot is. He carefully plots his moves and is methodical in his precision. He kills with cool detachment. If he had Willis' assignment, he would have gotten it done.

But, he had to deal with the European versions of the CIA/FBI and they were not restrained in how they handled investigations. With just a thread, the French police inspector carefully puts together a case with as much precision as his prey. It was a game of cat and mouse that kept you on the edge of your seat for two and a half hours without noticing the time.

That is because of director Fred Zinnemann and the fact that he kept things moving along beautifully.

If you want to see how a thriller is done with craft and cunning and without special effects, then this is the film for you.

There's always something fascinating about a film that takes a well-known historical event and twists a fictional story around it. Not only does it effectively add a true sense of realism, thus increasing the suspense and visceral intensity of the plot, but there's also that inkling of a feeling that perhaps the story isn't fictional, after all. It goes against all our logic, but the sentiment still sits at the back of our minds; as far as we know, maybe there was an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle on August 25, 1963 that was promptly covered up by authorities. Of course, Fred Zinnemann's 'The Day of the Jackal (1973),' based upon the acclaimed 1971 thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth, never purports to be telling a true story, but it remains a exciting consideration. The film follows a cunning, ruthless assassin – codenamed the Jackal – as he plots to sniper the French President, as well as the frantic attempts of authorities to capture the anonymous man before he can carry out his plans.

Unlike most thrillers concerned with capturing a killer before he can strike, 'The Day of the Jackal' spends most of its time with the assassin himself, where we watch him intelligently and artfully drawing his meticulous plans and putting them into execution. The Jackal (Edward Fox) is a man of few words; a silent and scrupulous professional who never allows emotion to affect his work. We come to recognise his sly brilliance in everything he does, and yet the film never celebrates his cleverness, and admiration is not an emotion with which we are willing to respond to him. On the opposite side of the moral scale is Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale), a shy and softly-spoken detective who reveals himself to be a surprisingly cunning and resourceful investigator. The means by which he and his colleagues break-down the Jackal's impenetrable scheme is genuinely captivating and intriguing.

Given the story's historical grounding, it is inevitable that the assassination attempt be unsuccessful, though Zinnemann manages to infuse the story with a continuing air of suspense, which slowly escalates as the fateful day – Liberation Day in Paris – approaches. 'The Day of the Jackal' joins the ranks of such films as 'All the President's Men (1976)' and 'Zodiac (2007),' which somehow manage to maintain the tension despite their conclusions never being in any doubt {though, admittedly, those two had the added burden of a completely factual story}. Despite the phenomenal success of Forsyth's novel, the film adaptation was a box office failure, which Zinnemann later blamed upon having an unknown in the title role. Nevertheless, 'The Day of the Jackal' is now considered a classic thriller, which also spawned an average 1997 remake, 'The Jackal,' starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere.

... How am I supposed to review a thriller I liked a lot ? It's much easier to write comments on a thriller I disliked , a good example being that really crap movie with Bruce Willis hired by the Russian mafia and IRA man Richard Gere trying to stop him . I think you know the movie I'm talking about

Frederick Forsyth writes thrillers that not only entertain you but educate you too and Kenneth Ross has written a screenplay that reflects this type of writing . The characters aren't cyphers created just to push the plot along , you can really believe these policemen have been solving cases for years ( notice how the policemen are either dowdy or gruff or both . Very realistic ) while you just know " The Jackal " is the world's most effective hit-man . Director Fred Zimmerman films the movie the best way possible - As a docudrama . Okay it might be a little slow and European to some tastes thirty years after it was filmed but compare it to the aforementioned remake and tell me what ones more nailbiting and compelling ? No contest is it

The opening five minutes of the film are a marvel. Almost completely devoid of dialogue the scenes portray visually more story than most modern thrillers can fit into two hours. This is about the best book-to-film conversion I've ever seen. The cuts, where they are made, are logical and some locations are combined. From Forsyth's first, and probably best book (written in less than 5 weeks) this film contains nothing that does not drive the story forward. The character of the Jackal is brilliantly finely drawn. He doesn't contain any of the cliches that you would expect to see in a film written in the last twenty years (he doesn't display mental instability, or have flashbacks to some event in his past). He never tries to justify his pernicious occupation to anyone yet, strangely, doesn't come across as an evil man. Simply as a professional doing his job. The French police inspector is wonderfully underplayed and is as far away from the he-breaks-the-rules-but-he-gets-the-job-done cliche as you can possibly imagine. He is first seen attending to his pigeons and upon being told he is being put on the case simply says "Oh God..."....

Zimmemann's direction is great and the scenes are beautifully photographed - particularly in Paris.

This is an all-time great film. Definitely in my top ten. I suppose I must put something in negative so it makes for a balanced review so errr.... I think the French minister is wearing a very bad wig. Beyond that -marvelous.

This is just a masterpiece. It is probably the prime example of how the film industry did such a better job with movies of this genre 30 and 40 years ago. I was comparing and contrasting this with the original "The Manchurian Candidate," both films dealing with assassination, but taking totally different paths -- one with a brainwashed assassin, the other with a coolly professional one. But in comparing this film with more-modern films -- including the remake of this one -- it's amazing how everyone involved 30 or 40 years ago used dialog, character development, fantastic cinematography and other such tools to craft an incredibly complex and tense work. You might have trouble remembering one actor from this film, but you can't forget their characterizations. Nowadays, it's nothing but special effects. Everyone got a lot more for their money in the era when this film was made.