L'assaut

This French film is notable for mixing its action-thriller narrative around an actual true event. In 1994 an Islamist terrorist group called the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) hijacked a plane travelling from Algeria to Paris, it had to land in Marseilles to refuel and it was here that the French special forces - the GIGN – executed an assault. It is later learned that the objective of the terrorists was to fly the aeroplane into the Eiffel Tower, so the parallels to the later world changing September 11th attacks on the USA are unmistakable. This feels almost a dry run that was thwarted.

The story is presented from three different perspectives – from the point-of-view of the terrorists, through the eyes of a special forces man and via the experiences of a Ministry of the Interior employee. In this way this docudrama gives a wide overview of the events that happened over those dramatic two days. Having said that, the characterisations are fairly minimal and the approach taken is pretty lean overall, with little included which isn't absolutely necessary. An exception to this is probably the inclusion of the material about the wife and young daughter of the special forces guy; I guess this was intended to humanise him and give the whole story a domestic perspective which more people could directly empathise with.

Stylistically, this one has been presented visually in quite an unusual way. Almost all colour has been drained from the screen, with the exception of a few instances, meaning that this is in effect in black and white with a few moments of washed out colour. It is a look which gives off a very downbeat feel to proceedings. Later on real TV footage of the news coverage is spliced into the flow in a seamless manner, this works well in adding to the authenticity. It could perhaps be said that too little emphasis is ultimately given to the assault itself, with an almost slightly rushed feel to the final proceedings. But all-in-all this is a very good thriller based around a true story which has been overshadowed by events that have occurred since, so it is pertinent that this film is out there reminding us of the near miss of a disaster of massive proportions which was averted mainly by the bravery and the actions of the French special forces.

Every nation has their special police/squad team. So do the french as you can see in this movie that is based on a real event that occurred in 1994. Something is going down (no pun intended), which the french police tries to stop. Of course this can be eerie, especially because you will think of another event that happened a few years later elsewhere. While no real connection is made, you can sort of feel it.

What makes this stick out, is the fact, that there are quite a few good action set pieces and a real character development amongst our characters. While I haven't checked upon how close this is to what happened originally, I can tell you that this is tension filled stuff indeed.

The Assault is a fairly faithful recounting of the hijacking of Air France flight 8969 by Algerian Muslim terrorists in 1994. The story is told from three perspectives--the events on the plane, the leader of the French SWAT team, and some French politicians.

Four terrorists board the plane disguised as Algerian authorities out the check passports of the passengers. Once someone notices their weapons and grenades, they have to take over at that point. They aim to fly to Paris and hope to have two detained terrorists released. However because a stair truck is still attached the plane, the plane can't depart. The Algerian authorities pretty much refuse to deal with the terrorists at all. Once they kill a French citizen, the French government demands the plane be allowed to depart, which it does, but to Marseilles and not to Paris due to lack of fuel.

We meet also the SWAT leader who's married and has a young daughter that hasn't really bonded with him yet. The woman seems to have a bad feeling about things. While he realizes that the situation with the plane isn't favorable and that there will be casualties yet he demands to be the first to enter the plane. We're not sure if he's depressed or what.

Meanwhile the French government is on full alert and some little girl working at some ministry meets the main bad Algerian terrorist who's in Paris. She offers him money to call off the hijacking, but refuses and takes the money anyway. She concludes that the terrorists will use the plane as a weapon and crash it into a French landmark. At some point in front of major authorities for some reason she just grabs the microphone and starts dictating when SWAT is to act.

Once the plane is in Marseilles the order is given to assault the plane. This is around 1:15 into the movie. Our leader is indeed the first one in and the only one tasked with going after the terrorists who are all in the cockpit with the 3 pilots. All the other dozen of SWAT are busy helping the passengers escape.

For no good reason the entire movie is filmed in a notch before black and white. There isn't a whole lot of dialogue and things are fairly slow for the most part. But given the events portrayed you do connect with the movie. You just can't help wishing it had been more thrilling and exciting.

USA has her SWAT, Japan has her Security Police, Brazil has her BOPE featured in Elite Squad, and as far as special police teams go, the French has got her GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) making it onto the big screen, and what more than to introduce them via a true, high profile aircraft hijacking of an Air France Airbus 300 plane in the year 1994 involving the supposed attempt of using a fuel laden aircraft as a missile targeted against a major city landmark, a chilling 7 years before a terrorist group managed to carry out this dastardly act on the soil of USA.

Those of us who had grown up playing the first person shooter game Counter-strike will be no strangers to the uniform of the GIGN, since it is one of the four outfits that you can select on your character profile if you choose to be on the side of the counter-terrorists. Director Julien Leclercq paid close attention to detail and began with literally a big bang to showcase the capabilities of the GIGN troopers, before saving up the real deal for the extended final act. But that's not to say that the film is a boring ride. On the contrary, Leclercq crafted a gripping tale that moves, probes and examines very quickly how things get to spiral out of control until the inevitable outcome, expertly handling three separate narrative threads running concurrently before finally converging into the titular battle onboard the narrow confines of an aircraft.

The first naturally comes from the perpetrators, the terrorists, their thought process and ruthless action in causing mass panic and fear to further their political cause. Here it's the GIA out to free two of their comrades in Algeria, or so it seems, and had taken an Air France plane at the airport as leverage. But the second thread, focused on Mélanie Bernier's Foreign Ministry analyst Carole in a very Jack Ryan-esque role whose research, insights and gut feel points to a very different strategy and objective adopted by the hijackers, and has to cut through the usual red tape in the administration to push her points through, at times too direct that it irks the brass. And the last narrative thread paints a rather personal picture of GIGN trooper Thierry (Vincent Elbaz), personifying the issues and concerns of those who put their lives on the line to protect strangers, at the risk of upsetting and disappointing their own family members even, who cannot reconcile why they do what they do.

Technically, the film has fantastically strained its colour palette, making it very close to black and white, which I thought suited it fine since it's actually loosely referencing events from history (with the dramatic license for it too I hope) like a documentary, akin to accessing vague memory banks or like watching a news reel unspool - some of the clips that the characters watch from television were the real deal at the time. Then there is the choice of adopting the shaky cam. Now I'm not a proponent for this camera technique because more often than not it gets exploited by the filmmakers to cover up flaws in their work, and am finding it tiring as an audience to try and follow events on screen when the camera moves about almost all the time. It's not to say it cannot be used, because The Assault did it nicely that fit the narrative well, transmitting that sense of urgency and constant danger, helped by a pulsating soundtrack by Jean-Jacques Hertz and Francois Roy.

What made this film excel amongst its peers are the sensitive stories and characters involved in a life and death situation, with viewpoints presenting both in macro and micro terms, the latter allowing you to feel for the characters since it's set up very carefully to allow for empathy. Leclercq does not pull his punches in vilifying the evil doers, with powerful scenes both to evoke a sense of hatred for the senseless violence they preach, and in one potent scene involving a terrorist having to face up to his parents, allowed that slight sliver of sympathy that they are but pawns manipulated by others. It's a little pity though that the socio-political context of the incident isn't covered in the film in detail which may leave some perplexed, and while it may rob The Assault of its pace, may probably enhance the viewer's understanding of the conflict that existed.

As far as police thrillers go, The Assault scores high on both action and drama, providing that unique combination very rarely seen in action films, that allows you to feel for the characters, and appreciate the unenviable task of the special forces in the respective countries constantly training and prepping to deter any would be aggressors, but when the time calls for it, to swing into action unflinchingly. Tactics and weapons on display in the film also provides ample fuel for fruitful post screening discussions. Definitely one of my favourite films this year!

I was fascinated and totally on the edge of my seat for this one. Despite flaws in the production and irrelevant scenes involving one of the GIGN member's wife and little daughter, included obviously for the sake of emotional pull, this film is an accurate reenactment of the Air France hijacking of 1994 and subsequent raid to free the hostages. This film is a stark reminder why we have to endure airport security and how crazy these Muslim religious fanatics are.

The movie had a made-for-TV quality and could have done with higher production values; perhaps the budget was limited. The version I saw had dubbed voices which made the acting seem worse than it really was. I think it would be a lot better in French with subtitles. A lot of the technical details of the planning of the raid were just not explained, no doubt the film makers were more interested in dramatic effect. But the fact that it was an accurate reenactment of real events made these flaws appear minor and the events more gripping.

At one point the French Government tries to appease the Terrorists by giving them a large sum of money without any hint or assurance that the hostages would be released. I said to myself, "Did that really happen? I mean, could they be that dumb?" Those leery of French politics will just have to groan and say "Not again!" But then at the time they didn't have the lessons of 9/11 to inform them.

All in all I was immersed in this film and was quite willing to overlook its minor flaws in light of the important lessons it teaches. Historical accuracy counts for a lot in this kind of drama.