Carlos

Olivier Assayas, that astonishingly versatile director, has given us a film about Ilich Ramirez called Carlos. I found a lot of pleasure in the details: for example the singalong by Venezuelan and other exiles in a Paris apartment that turns into a bloodbath when the police enter and try to detain Carlos. The nervous hand-held camera work as the mayhem begins is most effective. The center-piece of any film about Middle Eastern terrorism must be the OPEC hostage taking, and this event Assayas depicts very well.

Carlos made me think of the political dramas the Italians used to do so well: The Mattei Affair and Exquisite Corpses by Rosi, The Battle of Algiers by Pontecorvo. I would give it a higher mark if the running time were not so excessive. The truth is that the last thirty years of this man's life have been pretty uneventful, and don't merit the outlay in time.

Fascinating 5 hour plus, 3 part film about Carlos the Jackal (although he never actually called himself that) the headline grabbing terrorist of the 70s and 80s.

With little exposition, we're dropped into a whirlwind of violence, self-aggrandizement, sexual seduction, and power games, moving at an almost dizzying speed. The film allows us to slowly figure out Carlos, instead of explain him in a simple facile way.

While never sympathetic, somehow the amazing Edgar Rameriez allows us to feel for this id and ego driven creature, powered far more by the need for attention and adulation (whether from women or the press) than by true belief. Indeed, one of the most interesting things about the film is how (intentionally) shallow and hollow Carlos's political monologues ring.

The last 1/3 is the slowest and hardest to sit through. Carlos's slow decline into ineffectiveness and unimportance is sometimes patience trying. But Rob Nelson, in his excellent Village Voice review makes a strong argument that this is a) unavoidable after the high paced rush of the first two parts and 2) part of the point of the film; without his fixes of women and power there wasn't much to Carlos, and without them both he and we want it to be over.

This is a film I'd like to see again. While I don't quite agree (yet) with the many critics who have hailed this as of the best films of last 10 years, I do think it's a challenging, brilliantly acted, wonderfully made film, that gives context both to modern terrorism and recent world history. Add to that, an exploration of the blurring fine line between power and uncontrolled narcissism that seems to dog leaders (especially male) of all political stripes from Hitler to Bill Clinton to George Bush to Carlos.

That's a lot to cover, even in 5 hours.

CARLOS is a five hour miniseries that has garnered some of the longest articles of praise from the newspapers across the country. Technically speaking that is understandable: the shots of the various countries discussed and the quality of acting from a very broad spectrum of actors across the world is impressive. But the story (or documentary as this is a recreation of many years of revolutionary movements that culminated in a world famous raiding encounter at the OPEC oil ministers conference in Vienna in 1975) wares thin very quickly. Yes, it is somewhat enlightening to follow the development and actions of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan revolutionary better known as 'Carlos', who founded a worldwide terrorist organization, finding his goals through hijacking of planes, capturing hostages, arranging talks with some of the major countries in the world. But there is such a sameness to the action that after about 2 hours of the series it is difficult to wait for the central climactic drama. Writers Dan Franck and Olivier Assayas (remembered for 'Paris, je t'aime' and 'Irma Vep' who also directs) may have taken some liberties with facts but they do deliver enough information about the birth and breeding of terrorist groups to give us all a wake-up call.

Édgar Ramírez, a young Venezuelan actor fluent in many languages, is the main reason for watching this epic suspense thriller. He is a major presence and makes 'Carlos' seem like a righteous humanitarian revolutionary - a problem when the details of the real character Carlos are examined. He is able assisted by a strong cast - a few of the main additional characters are played by Alexander Scheer, Alejandro Arroyo, Ahmad Kaabour, Talal El-Jordi and Juana Acosta in addition to many many others. But sitting through he series, especially during the long hours of lack of activity aboard a hijacked airplane with hostages for example, begins to bog down the story. Once the idea of the story is hatched it simply becomes a long song spanning many countries and diminishes in interest. The series is due to open in theaters this week: it will be interesting to see if they play the entire 5 hours in one sitting!

Grady Harp

I remember watching the full 3 part mini-series some years ago, and being quite engaged. However I'd strongly recommend not watching any of the abridged versions. I had a DVD for the roughly 170 minute version and was left feeling confused and bored. It's hardly made clear why he has become so notourious. Near the he starts a relationship with a woman who out of nowhere has a child with her. Then that ends almost straight away and he has a new girlfriend, out of nowhere. We see him with the Syrians, then a sequence of the Berlin wall falling is shown, and then immediately after we see the Syrians cutting ties with him. If you want the proper experience, see the full 5+ hours of it.

A reviewer (understandably) posted a comment that indicated the US censorship forces would not allow this series to be shown on mass market outlets such as major cable TV networks. I include an excerpt from this person's review below: "USA FCC censorship will never allow this movie to be shown in public TV as it was in Europe (there is nudity and swearing all over). It is really a pity because young people should see this to understand the difference between fight and manipulation." I am happy to report that the major cable TV network, Time Warner cable TV, is showing this series now on its "on-demand" channels, which is very convenient for viewing. I saw evidence that the series was not substantially edited in that frontal male nudity was shown (a US taboo) and also the length of the 3-part series seems consistent with the most nearly complete versions of this series. This is of course not proof that nothing was edited, but it is encouraging. I hope this information is helpful to others!