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This is a Pure Movies review of Carlos, directed by Olivier Assayas, starring Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Alejandro Arroyo, Ahmad Kaabour, Talal El-Jordi, Juana Acosta, Nora von Waldstätten, Christoph Bach, Rodney El Haddad and Julia Hummer. Written by David Hudson. A joint French-German production, co-written and directed by Olivier Assayas, Carlos was originally made as a three-part, five hour TV mini-series. It’s now been edited down to 165 minutes for worldwide cinematic release. It tells the story of Carlos the Jackal; one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, whose heyday ran from the mid-70s up until the end of the cold war. Born Ilich Ramírez Sánchez in Venezeula in 1949, Carlos was a committed and cold revolutionary who likened himself to Che Guevera, but who’s own personal war against capitalism and imperialism took in a more random and international selection of victims.

Olivier Assayas's engrossing movie traces the life of one of the 20th century's most notorious terrorists

Conventional wisdom suggests that we look to America for the essential models of the crime movie, but in fact, in addition to providing a name for that most respected of Hollywood genres, the film noir, the French were way out front when, early in the last century, Louis Feuillade directed a succession of sophisticated, surreal serials of underworld activities that remain unsurpassed, among them Judex, Fantômas, Les vampires and Tih Minh.

This tradition was carried on in Marcel Carné's classics of the 1930s and after the second world war by Jacques Becker with Touchez pas au grisbi (based on a Série noire novel by Albert Simonin that was accompanied by a 14-page glossary of underworld argot) and Jean-Pierre Melville, who specialised in gangster movies of a purity unrivalled by Hollywood.

Numerous petits-maîtres...

IFC releases their Carlos drama helmed by Olivier Assayas into limited venues today. The film is in three parts, written by Dan Frank and tells the story of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez who, for two decades, was one of the most wanted terrorists on the planet. Between 1974, in London, where he tried to assassinate a British businessman; and 1994, when he was arrested in Khartoum, he lived several lives under various pseudonyms, weaving his way through the complexities of international politics of the period. Who was Carlos? How did his various multi-layered identities fit together? Who was he before engaging body and soul in a never-ending struggle? The drama is built around these questions. Read more for the synopsis on Part One, Part Two and Part Three. See below for the trailer and images. The film opens October 15th and stars Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Alejandro Arroyo, Ahmad Kaabour, Talal El-Jordi, Juana Acosta and Nora von Waldstätten.

The chaps from Empire have revealed this brand new clip from movie, Carlos which is directed by Olivier Assayas and stars Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Alejandro Arroyo, Ahmad Kaabour.

The movie is based is a cut down version of the TV mini series and hits UK cinemas 22nd October.

Synopsis:  The story of Venezuelan revolutionary, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the Opec headquarters in 1975 before being caught by the French police.

We currently have a competition running where you can win a signed poster and tickets to the London Film Festival screening of Carlos. Click here to enter.

IFC Films have released a new trailer and poster for Olivier Assayas’ Carlos.

Carlos debuted at Cannes as a three-part, 5 hour and 30 minute film, but has since been cut for theatrical release to a total of two hours and 20 minutes.

It tells the story of Venezuelan revolutionary, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the Opec headquarters in 1975 before being caught by the French police.

Carlos features performances from Édgar Ramírez, Alejandro Arroyo, Juana Acosta, Ahmad Kaabour, Alexander Scheer, Talal El-Jordi, Christoph Bach and Julia Hummer.

Check out the brand new poster and trailer below, via RopeofSilicon:...